Homeless people sue de Blasio for moving them from hotels back to shelters

Homeless New Yorkers filed a lawsuit against Mayor Bill de Blasio on July 8. In the lawsuit, they claim he broke the law by moving homeless people with disabilities from hotel rooms back to shelters without warning. More than 650 disabled people were evicted from single hotel rooms in Manhattan on June 23, 24 and 25 without time to prepare, according to the Legal Aid Society, which represents the homeless in a lawsuit against the city. New York DailyNews.

“The city's hasty decision to arbitrarily relocate thousands of homeless New Yorkers from safe places to overcrowded local shelters is both illegal and inhuman,” said Josh Goldfein, a lawyer with the Legal Aid Society.

The essence of the claim

The lawsuit alleges that on June 23, a man identified in the document as a PM, who moves in a wheelchair and needs a joint replacement in his right knee, was transferred from a hotel with facilities for people with disabilities to a city shelter where there are no toilets equipped for people with disabilities.

“These hotel evictions are violent, dangerous, illegal and racist,” said Helen Strom, an attorney for the City Justice Center, which is representing several homeless people in the lawsuit.

“The vast majority of African American and Latino New Yorkers are thrown bustlingly from hotels, usually located in white neighborhoods and tourist centers, and sent to unsafe shelters with more than a dozen people per room,” Strom said.

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The plaintiffs are asking the judge to force the city authorities to comply with the 2015 court ruling, which will stop the transfer of all homeless people whose case was not considered individually.

A 2015 decision requires the City to conduct a thorough assessment of the request of every homeless New Yorker who asks for adequate housing. The priority here is those who have disabilities or other health problems.

The Homelessness Department transferred approximately 10 homeless New Yorkers from shelters to hotels at the onset of the COVID-000 pandemic to keep them safe from the deadly virus.

In connection with a decrease in the number of cases of coronavirus infections and mass vaccinations, Mayor de Blasio decided on June 16 to evict the homeless from hotels and send them back to shelters.

Criticism of the mayor

The mayor has been criticized from all quarters for the way he treated the homeless during the pandemic.

People living in affluent neighborhoods where homeless people have been relocated to hotels have complained of the impact on their neighborhoods. In particular, they complained about garbage, drugs, reduced security and property values. Residents of districts sued the mayor's office for these decisions.

Now the mayor has also become the subject of a lawsuit for the eviction of the homeless from hotels, this time the homeless themselves went to court.