FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Wednesday, June 16, 2021

CONTACT

Joseph Loonam, Joseph@vocal-ny.org

WILLIAMS HOTEL RESIDENTS RECEIVE TRANSFER NOTICES DAY AFTER RALLY AT GRACIE MANSION

Homeless New Yorkers Demand Hotels to Housing; Instead They Face Forced Transfers and Total Lack of Transparency in Process

NEW YORK — A day after rallying at Gracie Mansion to demand transfers from hotels to housing, men at the Williams Hotel in Brooklyn received transfer notice from their provider. VOCAL-NY released the following statements in response, attributable to Joseph Loonam, Housing Campaign Coordinator:

“One day after homeless New Yorkers rallied outside of Gracie Mansion to demand Mayor de Blasio provide a pathway to permanent housing from hotels, they were given notices of transfer that offered no dates, no information about safety precautions they should expect at the congregate shelter, and no way to plan for this dramatic intrusion on their lives. 

The media is reporting the Mayor is expected to announce plans for transfers, without any input from homeless New Yorkers. We have no reason to trust this Mayor will come up with a plan that respects the needs of homeless people. For eight years, this Administration has consistently shown a despicable lack of communication and resisted every effort to move people from homelessness to housing.

FEMA has promised to pay for hotels until September. Right now the city can help residents at the Williams Hotel and thousands of others find housing by expediting the implementation of recently passed bill Intro 146, and utilizing new Section 8 vouchers provided by the federal government. Instead Mayor de Blasio is forcing people back into the same congregate shelters that proved deadly at the start of the pandemic.” 

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