Lucerne Hotel On Upper West Side Turns Into Temporary Homeless Shelter, Prompting Concern Among ‘Petrified’ Neighbors (NYC)
CBS New York | 7/27/2020NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – Hundreds of people have been moved from homeless shelters to an Upper West Side hotel.
Neighbors say they were barely given notice and now they are upset.
Bused in from Downtown, 283 men who are experiencing homelessness arrived at their new Upper West Side address: The Lucerne Hotel on West 79th Street.
The Lucerne is the latest luxury hotel to become a temporary homeless shelter.
Some neighbors told CBS2’s Nick Caloway they were angry. Others said they were scared.
“I’m worried about whether there are going to be a lot of homeless men
283 is a lot
“just hanging around on the street,” said neighbor Jamie Berg.
You’ll be lucky, and grateful, if that’s all they do.
“I have no problem taking care of these people, OK? I have no problem.”
Personally?
With your money, not mine?
And the key quote to accompany that:
“But to put them at my back door, I am petrified. I am really petrified,” a neighbor named Carolee said.
Neighbors say they weren’t told about the decision until late last week. They had no input and no choice.
🙂
Welcome to the party, pol.
“It’s not right that we didn’t have any say, that they were just put here,” said Robert Montano.
Illegal immigrants spring to mind.
“Well as soon as I knew, they knew,” said City Councilmember Helen Rosenthal.
To clarify: a city council member is saying this decision was taken and approved without her knowledge? She first heard about it late last week?
Definitely vote her in again!
Rosenthal said the city’s shelters are too crowded, often sleeping two dozen people in a room. So the city has been emptying its shelters, placing thousands of people in hotels to reduce the spread of the virus.
“The most important thing is that the people here have access to the treatment that they need. These are people with mental health issues, with addiction issues,” Rosenthal said.
Super!
It’s those issues that make neighbors nervous. The men are coming from a pair of East Village shelters. Neighbors there have noticed homeless encampments pop up block after block during the pandemic, worsening as the weather turned warm.
They’re very observant. They noticed, huh?
“There’s a children’s school, which is about a block and a half away from here. How is that happening? So I have concerns,” Montano said.
(He managed to suppress the term “Mm-kay?” after some effort.)
NIMBY. Pure and simple.
You’d have to have a heart of stone not to laugh like a loon.
I bet the hotel is thrilled too.
Do they still offer complimentary turn-down service and continental breakfast?
No, but they’ll wash your needles and call the coroner.
Where does he think ‘homeless’ people generally hang out? The Hamptons?
They just gut put up in a luxury hotel. They are all probably watching cable TV, eating the carpet, putting holes in the walls, shooting up and hiding under the high thread count sheets. Why would they ever leave a paradise like that to hang out on the streets? I think the question is how are they ever going to convince them to get out of the hotel and go back to the streets?
“Neighbors there have noticed homeless encampments pop up block after block during the pandemic….There’s a children’s school, which is about a block and a half away from here. How is that happening? So I have concerns,” Montano said.
How far does she think all those inner city kids travel to get to school, you know all the kids that live on the blocks with all the homeless encampments? Did she show any concern that her desire for the city to be on lockdown for her safety probably added considerably to the homeless population?