Protesters took the fight over the city’s housing crisis to Mayor Bill de Blasio’s door Sunday night, demanding he reverse his decision to evict a group of homeless men from an Upper West Side hotel.
“They can move into our neighborhood but we can’t move into theirs,” said Larry Thomas, one of more than 300 homeless men who would be pushed out of the shelter at the Lucerne Hotel and moved into a Midtown hotel. Thomas joined about a hundred other demonstrators outside Gracie Mansion, who argued that the plan would have a ripple effect across the city and scatter 900 homeless people across different shelters in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens.
“We will throw no shade. Just reverse your decision. Leave people where they are,” Councilmember Helen Rosenthal, who represents the Upper West Side said. “The community is all set to welcome them and take care of everyone's needs.”
De Blasio announced last week his plan to move the residents of the Lucerne to the Harmonia Hotel, in response to a well-funded campaign by a group of Upper West Siders. Those UWS residents complained after four hotels in the area were converted into homeless shelters during the pandemic to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in more crowded congregate settings. The group hired attorney Randy Mastro, former deputy mayor to Rudy Giuliani, who threatened to sue the city.
But to make room for the men at the Harmonia Hotel, some of Harmonia’s residents will be moved to Long Island City Plaza Hotel in Queens. The Legal Aid Society said 17 families from the Harmonia were already moved before the city temporarily halted relocations there this weekend, to ensure residents with disabilities are properly accommodated.
Adding to the sense of displacement: Long Island City Plaza is currently occupied by homeless women, who will be moved to the Flatlands Family Residence in Brooklyn, which is currently occupied by families including kids, according to the Daily News.
Larry Thomas, 59, is a resident of the Lucerne Hotel. He is on parole and said he’s already paid his debt to society and is not looking to get into trouble. He’s already been moved four times in the last five months
“I'm a piece of cattle. I'm not a human being. No, I'm a pawn in a political chess game,” said Thomas, who has already been moved four times in the last five months. He said the men at the Lucerne were previously relocated from a hotel in Hell’s Kitchen after residents there raised concerns.
The pandemic prompted the city to relocate 10,000 people from crowded and unsafe congregate shelters into hotels. More than 60 hotels are being used to house individuals and families who cannot stay at the same location.
The protest was organized by another group of Upper West Side residents, the UWS Open Hearts Initiative, who say they live in the neighborhood and support housing the homeless there.
Judy Jorrisch has lived in the Upper West Side for 50 years and said moving homeless families around does not fix the core of the problem: Helping residents find permanent, affordable housing.
“They're talking about the micro issues within the homeless system as if better shelters is the answer,” she said. “No, this city needs to go back to providing housing for the people who built it, who run it. And not just for speculators and international absentee investors.”
Representatives from City Hall and the Department of Homeless Services did not return requests for comment.
Protestors hold up a “notice of transfer” for Mayor de Blasio. They tried to deliver the letter to his doorstep but were stopped by police.
After hours of rallying and marching, a smaller group of protesters tried to deliver de Blasio a letter to his doorstep but were stopped by police barricades. The message was a large “notice of transfer” letter—the notice given to homeless residents when they will be relocated.
“Because you are displacing 900 homeless NYers and think that ‘shelters are better environments,’ please be advised that you will be transferred from Gracie Mansion to a homeless shelter,” the letter read.
During an almost four hour standoff with police, protesters were not allowed up to the security gate to drop off the notice. Councilmember Rosenthal negotiated for hours with Councilmember Ben Kallos and urged the police to de-escalate the situation by allowing one homeless resident who would be displaced at the Harmonia Hotel to walk up the letter on his own.
Police said no.
Ultimately, Rosenthal said the City’s Commissioner of Community Affairs Marco Carrión agreed to meet with a group of homeless residents impacted by the decision. She said de Blasio wanted to meet with the city councilmembers at the protest, but Rosenthal said she wanted the mayor to agree to meet with the people impacted by his decision.
When she would not agree to meet with de Blasio without a promise that he would meet with homeless residents, she was told the mayor went to bed.
[UPDATE / 5:02 p.m.] DHS confirmed that they have officially paused the transfers from these locations, pending a review from DHS Commissioner Steve Banks and the City's Law Department. Gothamist/WNYC reported the pause on Friday.
Brigid Bergin contributed to this report.
