Why the homeless New York, left without an overnight stay due to the closure of the subway, do not want to go to shelters

For the first time in history, the New York City subway is closed at night. The homeless, who usually spent the night there, are driven out by police. Once there, the homeless are lost, not knowing where to go. The city offers such people a dubious alternative - to go to "one of the most terrible shelters" of the Big Apple. The situation there is so terrible that many prefer to stay on the street. The publication spoke about this in detail. Curbed.

“A sad and terrible sight”

May 6, New York subway for the first time in 115 years of existence suspended work around the clock. Now every night, from 01:00 a.m. to 05:00 a.m., train stations and carriages are thoroughly disinfected.

And hundreds of homeless people - there are more than 3000 of them in the city - for whom this was the only place to sleep, found themselves on the street. The problem is that the shelters cannot offer all of them accommodation.

One such case occurred recently on the Upper East Side. Police officers, along with support staff, took homeless people from Second Avenue Station on 96th Street.

“Many people were not familiar with the Upper East Side; they went out clearly not knowing where to go, ”says Craig Hughes, an attorney for the nonprofit Safety Net. He went to this station to check what was happening to the people who were left homeless. Hughes said that overall it was "a very sad and scary sight."

“One of the worst city shelters”

For homeless people leaving the subway, the police offered to go to city shelters for the night. Those who agreed to this went to the small Citi Care buses: “I saw four people being put into this small bus, the seats of which were not six feet away (1,8 meters, as it should be under quarantine conditions - Ed.) apart, ”Hughes said. "There was a good chance those buses would take them to the shelter for single men on 30th rue Bellevue." This center is, according to Hughes, "one of the scariest havens in the entire city."

On the subject: Homeless on the streets of New York: the extent and causes of the problem

In the past, there have been several violent incidents at the 30th Street men's shelter, sometimes fatal. However, in the first week after the night metro closed, many homeless people were taken there. At the same time, the shelter was clearly unprepared to meet such a number of people: many homeless people had to sleep on the floor. Others simply left the shelter as soon as they were brought there, assessing the situation on the spot.

Since then, the city began to send buses not to Bellevue, but to other places.

What do the authorities say

At a May 13 press conference, Mayor Bill de Blasio said the nightly shutdown of the metro and a plan to help the homeless showed "unprecedented results, and this trend has been going on for more than a week." He noted that if the city can maintain this trend, "then it will have a very long-term and positive impact on reducing homelessness in New York."

But according to the Department of Homeless Services (DHS), in the first days of the night metro stop, from May 6 to 10, out of 824 people who needed temporary housing, this was organized only for 201 people. That is, only 24% of those in need were in shelters.

“Even in the best-case scenario, it’s trying to move people from one unsafe environment, from the subway, to another unsafe environment, to the shelter system,” said Kelly Doran, an emergency room doctor and professor at New York University, who conducts research on the problems of the homeless.

The situation in shelters today

As of May 15, 179 confirmed positive cases of COVID-806 were registered in 19 shelters, resulting in the death of 65 people. Some homeless people said that it’s almost impossible to follow the guidelines for social distance in crowded places. Therefore, after pressure from activists, the city organized the resettlement of the homeless in hotels. Up to 1000 homeless people are transferred to hotel rooms per week.

“They say that we need to stay six feet (1,8 meters - Ed.) Apart, but we sleep three feet (0,9 meters - Ed.) Apart. So how can I stay six feet away from someone? - complains a resident of the Brooklyn orphanage "Magnolia", who preferred to remain anonymous. "There is a small TV room, 10-20 people are sitting in this TV room two feet (0,6 meters - Ed.) From each other."

Given the current situation, many homeless people prefer to stay outside. However, the city could help such people, Hughes said. “The city could, for example, offer blankets to people on the street,” he commented on the situation on the night of May 6. "But there were literally no tangible things people could get: no blankets, no hand sanitizers, no masks, no socks ... there was nothing people could get to help people at night."

The police operation is aimed at simply driving the homeless out of the subway, and not at helping people, says Hughes.

What the homeless themselves say

Anthony Williams, a 67-year-old homeless New Yorker who currently resides at the hotel, slept on the subway a few weeks ago. He managed to get a hotel room at the expense of the GoFundMe campaign, organized by the Urban Justice Center.

However, on the night of May 6, the first night of the night metro stop, he managed to visit the subway. Williams said she met other homeless people there who told him they didn't know what to do or where to go. “They are still homeless, they are still on the street,” he said. "For them, this is their refuge, the subway, because it is public and safe there."

As previously reported, 1 million New Yorkers run the risk of a pandemic. At risk are the most vulnerable segments of the population who do not have savings. Since many of them lost their jobs due to the pandemic, they have nothing to pay for their rental housing, and they risk staying on the street. This can only be avoided by the willful decision of the city authorities.