The city will move thousands of homeless New Yorkers who have been staying in hotels back to shelters, subject to state approval, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced.
Shelter residents were temporarily transferred to hotels to meet social distancing requirements during the pandemic.
“The time has come to move homeless people who were in hotels for a temporary period of time back to shelters, where they can receive the support they need,” de Blasio said.
The move requires state approval, which the Department of Social Services requested on May 18, according to the mayor.
“Everything is ready to go,” de Blasio said. “Obviously the situation has improved tremendously. All of our planning is in place. We know exactly which shelters we are going to take people back to. We are ready to go. What we need is clearance from New York State.”
Following Governor Andrew Cuomo’s announcement yesterday that most of the COVID-19 restrictions would be lifted, the Mayor stressed the need for this authorization.
The hotel program has created tensions in places in the city such as the Upper West Side in Manhattan where some residents protested and took the city to court over housing the homeless or homeless at the Lucerne Hotel.
Neighbors allege that their quality of life was affected by the presence of the homeless around the hotel. There were protests from neighbors in other neighborhoods as well.
The measure announced by the mayor, which is expected to be completed by the end of July, would affect 8,000 New Yorkers living in 60 hotels in the city.
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