Protesters Bring Clash Over Homeless Shuffle To Mayor's Doorstep

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — Incensed by the city's decision to move homeless men from the Lucerne Hotel shelter, setting off a wave of evictions that threaten to displace hundreds of families around the city, residents and advocates held an hourslong protest Sunday that began on the Upper West Side, moved across town for a rally at Carl Schurz Park and then culminated in a standoff outside the mayor's home at Gracie Mansion.

Speakers focused their anger squarely at Mayor Bill de Blasio, accusing him of hypocrisy for campaigning on behalf of the city's poorest residents but then bowing to neighborhood pressure last week by pledging to move 283 men from the affluent Upper West Side, where residents mounted a fierce campaign against the temporary shelter.

"I would've thought Donald Trump was the mayor," State Sen. Brian Benjamin, who represents part of the Upper West Side, told the crowd gathered at Carl Schurz Park.

One Lucerne resident who calls himself Da Homeless Hero said that last week's announcement layered "trauma on top of trauma" for vulnerable residents who felt "moved around like pawns on a chessboard."

"When the news broke that we would be moved, I walked the halls of the Lucerne and into the neighborhood, and saw some of the strongest individuals I've come to know showing fear, confusion and disorientation," he said. "The trauma could be seen on their faces."

City Councilmember Helen Rosenthal, who represents the Upper West Side, urged de Blasio to cancel the transfers, arguing that "it's not too late" for the mayor to reverse his decision.

The rally was organized by UWS Open Hearts Initiative, formed last month in opposition to the "Upper West Siders for Safer Streets" Facebook group, which led the charge to move the homeless residents — sometimes using violent, dehumanizing language in the process.

Those in attendance also included homeless residents of the Harmonia shelter in Midtown, where 150 families could be evicted this week to make way for men from the Lucerne. Shelter residents in Brooklyn and Queens also risk being uprooted during the shuffle.

A possible lawsuit by the Legal Aid Society prompted the city to temporarily halt the evictions last week, although more than a dozen families had already left the Harmonia.

De Blasio defended the transfers in a news conference Monday morning, arguing that the hotel shelters were always meant to be temporary, intended to reduce crowding in congregate shelters during the pandemic.

"I can't move now"

Marisol Hernandez has lived at the Harmonia for eight months. A shelter provider called her Wednesday during her shift at Lenox Hill Hospital, where she works as an office coordinator, telling her to prepare to move.

The news was especially distressing for Hernandez, who had just signed a lease for her own apartment in the South Bronx. Now, the move-in process has been put on hold, and she fears the transfers will jeopardize her chance to get her own place.

"I can't move now. They're telling me by Friday, I'll have to go to another shelter," she said.

Following the rally, the group marched along the East River Esplanade over to Gracie Mansion, seeking to present the mayor with a "notice of transfer," instructing him to leave his residence and move to a homeless shelter.

The group, which included Rosenthal and Upper East Side councilmember Ben Kallos, stayed outside the mansion for more than three hours as they asked security guards to allow shelter residents to meet with the mayor before the transfers take place.

Around 10 p.m., the group received a commitment that Marco A. Carrión, Commissioner of the Mayor's Office Community Affairs Office, would meet with residents and staff at the Lucerne and the Harmonia before any moves occur, according to UWS Open Hearts.

Past coverage from Patch:

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