NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — Nearly 300 homeless men who have been living at an Upper West Side hotel are being moved out and relocated following public outcry from neighbors.
As WCBS 880's Marla Diamond was reporting on City Hall's decision just before 7 a.m. Wednesday, several ambulance and a fire truck pulled up outside the Lucerne Hotel, which had been temporarily turned into homeless shelter amid the coronavirus pandemic.
A man in his 60s was found dead inside the hotel Wednesday morning after the FDNY said he suffered cardiac arrest.
Since the shelter was put in place, many residents have said they’ve witnessed a flood of lewd behavior and drug use.
"Here we go again. See this is a daily thing here. We've got either police or ambulances every time you come out of the house," said Lisa Levinson, who lives across the street from the hotel on West 79th Street. "We've seen urination, belligerence towards people. It's just been a fear. We have senior citizens that don't leave the building, take their daily walks, because they're afraid to go out."
Handyman Johnny Cologne said he supported the men at first.
"You see the debauchery. You see them sleeping. You see the public urination, you see the drug use and that quickly changed my mind after a few weeks of it," Cologne said.
Former Giuliani administration official Randy Mastro, the attorney representing a coalition of Upper West Side residents who threatened to sue, called in a win-win for the homeless me and for the community.
"And to the mayor's credit, he listened to the community and addressed a crisis," Mastro said.
The West Side Community Organization released a statement applauding the city's decision.
"The decision to move 300 troubled individuals out of the Lucerne Hotel into state-accredited shelters where they will receive on-site support and treatment was an important step for all New Yorkers. No one in any neighborhood should be made to feel unsafe, andeveryone who needs help should get it," the organization's president, Megan Martin, said. "The goal of our organization was always to improve the conditions of not only our community, but the lack of resources these men were receiving. We are grateful to the Departmentof Homeless Services and Mayor de Blasio for responding to our concerns, as we are grateful that these men will now be in a more appropriate environment. The Upper West Side still has more work to do, but this is a tremendous first step."
Those who welcomed the men to the neighborhood called the opposition racist.
City Councilwoman Helen Rosenthal on Twitter said, "It’s a sad day when the threat of lawsuit gets city hall to reverse a decision."
Dave Giffen, Executive Director of the Coalition for the Homeless, issued a statement saying, “The Mayor’s decision to capitulate to the NIMBYist voices on the Upper West Side by further displacing homeless New Yorkers is a sad victory for the well-heeled and well-connected whose fear mongering and intolerance disgrace our city. Playing politics with the lives of people experiencing homelessness during a global pandemic is simply inexcusable and confirms that the suffering of homeless New Yorkers means less to Mayor de Blasio than the power of those who find it inconvenient. It is inhumane and just plain wrong, and the Mayor should be ashamed.”
The coalition, Rosenthal and other local leaders held a news conference Wednesday morning to respond to the decision.