Midtown Shelter Residents Fret Over Food, Water As Transfers Loom

Update, 6:10 p.m. Thursday: Water at the Harmonia was restored shortly before 6 p.m., a shelter provider said, after a plumbing issue was repaired.

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — Residents of the Harmonia homeless shelter said water in the building has been cut off since Wednesday while food service was reduced, as they remain in a state of limbo while the city decides whether and where to transfer them.

Running water in the East 31st Street building stopped around 7 p.m. Wednesday, one shelter resident, who lives there with her partner but asked not to be named, told Patch Thursday.

Another resident, Mike Bonano, said an employee told him there had been a water main break, but he hadn't received any more information about the cause.

Meanwhile, two residents said food service inside the shelter has been dwindling since the city revealed last week that about 150 families in the Harmonia would be displaced to make way for men being evicted from the Lucerne on the Upper West Side. The city paused the transfers Monday, following protests and the threat of a lawsuit by the Legal Aid Society.

What had been hot meal service on plates was reduced to smaller boxed meals with reduced hours of food service, the resident said. A Legal Aid Society spokesperson told Patch that some clients reported getting no breakfast or lunch on Thursday.

Bonano, who has been helping families prepare for a possible move with his rented U-Haul truck, resorted to driving around Midtown Thursday afternoon in search of food pantries who could supply the Harmonia residents. He also posted a plea on Nextdoor, the neighborhood networking site, asking for food and water.

"I’m trying to do something to at least help out the residents," he told Patch, noting that many have disabilities that would prevent them from leaving the shelter to purchase food elsewhere.

Judith Jackson, chief of staff at provider Services for the Underserved, refuted residents' speculation about a food shortage, saying Thursday that the shelter's 41 employees were still working and that a new food shipment remained on tap for Friday.

"Nothing has changed, we’re providing services as we were last week," Jackson said. "Nobody can quite explain" why the hours for meal service were reduced, she added, but shelter staff now plan to revert back to the original hours.

Resident Al Williams called the lack of running water a safety concern, given the coronavirus pandemic.

"How can we wash our hands? We can’t even have the basic sanitary needs," he told Patch.

Josh Goldfein, a staff attorney with the Legal Aid Society, called the conditions "the latest unfortunate example of fallout from the de Blasio Administration’s ill-advised decision to play chess with our clients’ lives."

"The Administration’s callous lack of concern and humanity for our clients should alarm all New Yorkers, and we’re calling on City Hall to ensure that the residents of Harmonia Shelter and all homeless New Yorkers are able to move on with their lives," Goldfein said in a statement Thursday.

The Department of Homeless Services did not immediately return a request for comment.

Outrage has mounted from some corners following the move by Mayor Bill de Blasio to transfer 283 homeless men from the temporary shelter at the Lucerne, after residents of the affluent neighborhood objected to the shelter's placement there.

Elected officials and shelter residents have condemned the plans at multiple protests, including one last week outside the Harmonia and another Sunday outside de Blasio's residence at Gracie Mansion. The mayor has defended the planned transfers, saying the hotels were always meant to be a temporary measure to reduce crowding in congregate shelters during the pandemic.

Previous coverage from Patch:

• Protesters Bring Clash Over Homeless Shuffle To Mayor's Doorstep
• 'They're Not Garbage': Residents Condemn City's Homeless Shuffle
• Families Displaced From Midtown Shelter To Make Room For UWS Men