Mayor Bill de Blasio and elected officials announced the first steps to end cluster sites used to house the homeless on Friday.

Officials say 842 apartments that were privately owned and rented out by the city to house homeless residents have been shut down. 450 of those cluster sites were in the Bronx.

These sites came under fire last December when two children died inside a Hunts Point apartment that had allegedly been in disrepair.

Officials say the closing of clusters is a step in the right direction in properly addressing this crisis.

De Blasio has vowed to tackle New York City's homeless problem during his time in office.

The city will transition residents who lived in cluster units to shelters and will provide them with social services.