Dueling Hotel Homeless Shelter Petitions Divide Upper West Side

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — The recent relocation of nearly 700 homeless men and women to hotels within 10 blocks of each other on the Upper West Side has caused a fissure in the local community.

It is a division of opinion over the new homeless population that is perhaps best represented by dueling petitions about the issue that are both approaching their signature goals.

On one side of the debate is the "Upper West Siders for a Compassionate, Safe and Equitable Community" petition, which had 1,352 signatures of its 1,500 goal as of Tuesday afternoon.

"This program is literally saving lives, and is smartly making use of hotels that are sitting empty due to the pandemic, which also supports local businesses," authors of the petition wrote about the use of UWS hotels. "We stand ready to do our part to welcome them to our community. We refuse to participate in perpetuating segregation and racism."

"We have witnessed in the past weeks people posting photographs of these men, often simply sitting on a corner and speaking to their friends or members of the community," authors of the "compassion" petition added. "Discouraging others from donating to those in shelter; and speaking these men in ways that take away their humanity."

Authors of that petition also cited statistics showing that crime has not gone up in the Upper West Side in recent weeks, and that the neighborhood does not have a disproportionate number of homeless shelters.

According to Department of Homeless Services data, the Upper West Side had 1.9 percent of the total shelter population as of July 2019. The figure puts the Upper West Side at tied for fifth in total shelter population out of the various Manhattan neighborhoods.

A petition titled "We demand safe and clean streets on the Upper West Side" takes a very different view of the new homeless population.

"The safety and well-being of Upper West Side residents is in jeopardy with the conversion of temporary shelters without notice to residents," authors of the petition wrote. "Please sign this petition and share the link if you are in support of relocating these men."

"This situation is making life uncomfortable for residents and putting families, children and the elderly in harms way," authors of the "safe and clean streets" petition added.

The petition for "safe and clean streets" had 5,427 signatures of its 7,500 goal as of Tuesday afternoon.

That petition highlights sex offenders initially placed at one of the Upper West Side hotels getting used as a shelter.

Out of the 14 registered sex offenders initially placed at the Belleclaire Hotel, 10 were level 2 offenders, a category considered at moderate risk for repeat offense. Another four were level 3 offenders, who are considered high risk, according to the NYS Sex Offender Registry.

All level 3 sex offenders have been moved out, but those without residency restrictions remain in the Upper West Side hotel.

The collection of signatures to remove the new shelter residents from the neighborhood was spearheaded by a Facebook group called Upper West Siders for Safer Streets. The group, which was created after the shelter at The Lucerne hotel was announced last month, has grown to more than 6,500 members.

Here's a breakdown of the number of homeless shelter residents at the three Upper West Side hotels.

• Belleclaire (77th and Broadway): 288 clients, 100 of which are women; nearly a third of the residents go to work every day. The shelter's focus is on job placement assistance.
• Belnord (87th and Broadway): 100 clients, all-male, specializes in mental health and crisis intervention programs.
• Lucerne (79th and Amsterdam): 283 clients, all-male, serves those with drug addictions and other mental health issues.

READ MORE:

• UWS Hotel To Become Temporary Homeless Shelter For 283 People
• Remove Sex Offenders From UWS Hotel, Council Member Demands
• UWS Pol Changes Stance On Sex Offenders In Neighborhood Hotel