After arriving almost a year ago, the last of the 280 or so homeless men residing at the Lucerne Hotel at 201 West 79th Street have left the building.
A court ruled in early June that the hotel-shelter site would be closing its doors after many false alarms.
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While the majority of the men had already left – with some having found permanent housing and others having violated Project Renewal’s “Good Neighbor Policy” – those still residing at the Lucerne left on June 28 in a white bus to head back to congregate shelters.
The Upper West Side was split over the city’s decision to temporarily house homeless residents at neighborhood hotels since the beginning, and these contrasting perspectives remained until the end.
The night before the final move, Pix11 News spoke with Owen Crowley of UWS Open Hearts Initiative as well as now-former Lucerne resident Henry Melendez, both of whom praised the effectiveness of the Lucerne’s role during the pandemic.
As the bus pulled away, Corrine Low – one of UWS Open Hearts Initiative’s co-founders – expressed her disappointment over the final relocation to members of the press.
After close to a year on the Upper West Side, men are being moved out of The Lucerne Hotel this morning. pic.twitter.com/p64ctHicje
— Jeff Coltin (@JCColtin) June 28, 2021
Upper West Sider Rob Lister said to NY1, “I do think it was the right thing to do,” adding that “It was distressing to see people who weren’t in such great shape out on the street corners, on the medians … You’d see drugs and needles and things like that.”
Now that hotels are reopening and the worst of the pandemic appears to be behind us, NYC is moving about 9,000 homeless residents from temporary hotel-sites back into congregate shelters.
About time!
If open hearts had just let them move to the Radisson they would have brand new rooms permanently to themselves. Instead they kept them in this situation where they would have to go back to congregate shelters. They hurt the men and were never really there to help them. It’s so unfortunate but it was all about you know who being in the spotlight.
Do you have a link to something about this? If this is true it’s very disturbing.
What one (1) sided reporting! What about my being rundown by two of these charming gentlemen? One was welding a hammer, the other a length of chain. This of course is just one of the neighborhoods that supports DEFUNDING the police. Thanks to HELEN ROSENTHAL, LINDA B. ROSENTHAL, GALE BREWER, BILL DE BLAUSIO, JERRY NADLER, ANDREW CUOMO, SARA SILVERMEN, CHUCK SCHUMUR and that’s just for starters! What about the many Jewish people that have had to put up with being hunted down? I sincerely hope that many of my neighbors will WAKE UP and SMELL THE COFFEE to see how our CURRENT political representatives are corrupt, liars, dishonest, lack integrity and are more cognitively damaged than even Joe Biden.
“What about the many Jewish people that have had to put up with being hunted down? ”
W-T-F?
“What one (1) sided reporting! What about my being rundown by two of these charming gentlemen? One was welding [sic] a hammer, the other a length of chain.”
You confirmed these would be (I hope) attackers’ residency at the Lucerne?
Wow! Talk about over the top!! Mr. Dave this did not happen. Please stop with this total mis-information and vitrol! NONE of the Lucerne residents committed any crimes while staying at the Lucerne you all are just way tooooooooooooo much. A bunch of Karens!! You all really need to focus on something else and improve your lives.
We had several residents shooting up on the block, there was no “good neighbor policy” they also walked around high and screamed at neighbors (including kids). The people who actually live here know the truth but have been afraid to speak out because if they do they are called racist NIMBYS. Enough already with the fake one sided press. For those of us who lived nearby there is another side to this story and we have been scared into silence by groups like Open Hearts who threatened anyone who spoke out.
Thank goodness they got them out. A lot of them were dangerous and should never have been n our community. Those phony politicians should’ve put them up on their property. We need law and order back. It’s not too much to ask our politicians to keep us safe. It’s our right.
I’m waiting for Ian Alterman to show up in the comments section to tell us why we are all heartless monsters…
Ha, I was thinking the same thing. Trust me, Ian will be here soon to tell us all how selfish and heartless we are for being happy that they are gone. No matter what craziness they caused or danger towards others, we could always count on Ian to defend whatever it was they did and tell us how wrong we all are for being upset by it. I am a caring person who was one of the few asking people to give them a chance when they were first put there, but after seeing the havoc they all caused in less than 5 days, I was def hoping it would come to an end soon. Sadly, it took over 11 months for that to happen. A large part of the problem was not just from them, but from all the other homeless who came up to this neighborhood in hopes of moving in there too, then decided to stay up here in this neighborhood. I feel very bad for anyone who is homeless with no place to live and is going through a rough and hopeless time. BUT, instead of being appreciative of having a $500 a night luxury hotel suite to live in, most showed zero respect to the neighborhood and people who lived up here. I wish them the best, but they should be in a more suitable place where they can get the proper help that they need.
A lot of them really need hospitals not hotels unfortunately
Yes, we can trust Ian with the chip on his shoulder, for a holier than thou rant.
Must be lonely on that high moral ground he lives in amongst we mere mortals who had the audacity to express what we thought were better options and solutions for the homeless.