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City moving homeless people from UWS hotel
The city’s plan to temporarily house homeless men in hotels on the Upper West Side has backfired, after people who live in the neighborhood threatened to sue the city over the policy.
NEW YORK - City Hall now says that it will be moving homeless residents from the Hotel Lucerne on the Upper West Side after nearby residents complained and threatened to sue the city over safety and hygiene concerns.
The Hotel Lucerne became an emergency shelter for the homeless in the early days of the pandemic, one of the dozens of hotels across the city used to house homeless people to protect them from the virus.
But soon afterward, residents began to complain of drug use, public urination, and violence.
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Residents to be relocated
New York City officials will relocate the homeless residents that have been living at the Lucerne, a commercial hotel on the Upper West Side.
Now, the 300 people living in the hotel will be relocated, a decision Mayor Bill de Blasio said was made after he visited the site.
The decision, however, is being criticized on all sides.
The Legal Aid Society called the decision “disgraceful,” saying that uprooting people as the pandemic continues is dangerous.
Advocates rallied in front of the building on Wednesday, blasting the decision and calling on residents who had called for the men to be moved to donate money to help them start over in a new location.