UWS Pol Changes Stance On Sex Offenders In Neighborhood Hotel

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — City Council Member Helen Rosenthal penned a "particularly long" email on Sunday to the Upper West Side community about the recent homeless shelters placed in neighborhood hotels.

There are nearly 700 newly placed shelter residents within 10 blocks of each other in the neighborhood: 288 at the Belleclaire Hotel on 77th and Broadway, around 100 at the Belnord Hotel on 87th and Broadway and, most recently, about 283 clients at the Lucerne Hotel on 79th and Amsterdam.

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

The use of the hotels as shelters has become a lightning-rod topic among the Upper West Side community, with Rosenthal saying she has received hundreds of emails, phone calls and tweets in the past two weeks about the subject.

Rosenthal has repeatedly stated that over 600 temporary shelter residents is too many for the Upper West Side, and that she was not happy with the short notice given to her by the city about the residents' arrival at the Lucerne, and the way the city has communicated about the topic in general.

Last week, Rosenthal announced multiple demands regarding the use of the three Upper West Side hotels as temporary shelters.

Rosenthal had insisted that 14 registered sex offenders initially placed at the Belleclaire must be moved out.

"And I am demanding that all remaining offenders be moved out as well," Rosenthal wrote in an email on July 29.

Rosenthal changed her stance on the neighborhood sex offenders in her Sunday email:

"Regarding registered sex offenders living at the Belleclaire:

• Those with residency restrictions (restricted by state law from living within a thousand feet of a school) have been moved out. The City made a mistake in placing any individuals with these restrictions at the Belleclaire. The Dept of Homeless Services (DHS) tells us that it was one individual.
• There are no residency restrictions on the remaining clients. We follow up with the DHS directly with our questions, as it is unclear how regularly the NYS sex offender registry is updated.
• Simply as a point of reference: There are over 1,600 NYS registered sex offenders in Manhattan (living in private residences, homeless shelters, etc.). Mental health professionals advise that sex offenders are less likely to repeat offend when they are in a stable living environment with access to services, rather than in a distressed condition, such as homelessness," Rosenthal said Sunday in an email.

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

Department of Homeless Services Commissioner Steven Banks confirmed to Rosenthal's office that all level 3 sex offenders had been moved out of the Belleclaire by the end of July.

The Department of Homeless Services confirmed that no sex offenders are living in the Lucerne.

Additionally, Rosenthal previously stated the Upper West Side would not accept any more homeless shelter residents, which she also pivoted on in Sunday's email:

"I want to make my position very clear: housing is a human right, and access to social and human services is essential. While I understand the anger and fear of many constituents (exacerbated by the lack of information from the City) and was initially moved to respond in very stark terms, I regret stating that the Upper West Side would not accept any more people who are homeless. The Upper West Side is known as a place that welcomes those in need and I remain steadfast in that tradition. We are in the middle of a public health and economic crisis — this is our reality — and we will rise to the challenges it brings.

That being said, as a mother, a staunch feminist, and advocate for survivors — I will be hawkeyed about ensuring that laws regarding sex offenders' residency, and proximity to schools and playgrounds, are being closely followed," Rosenthal said Sunday in an email.

Rosenthal also shared a letter she received from Banks and the Department of Homeless Services addressing the concerns she raised to the city.

Within the letter, the Department of Homeless Services emphasized to Rosenthal that the new Upper West Side shelters fall under different rules since they were established to combat the coronavirus.

While the city usually has to give a 30-day notice before a shelter site can open, shelters opened on an "emergency basis" to help flatten the virus curve within the five boroughs are not held to the same rules.

All three of the Upper West Side shelters fall within the "emergency basis" category.

The letter from the Department of Homeless Services also addresses the concerns raised about the sex offenders' placement.

"DHS places all clients in accordance with State Law. In addition to following State Law as relates to residency restriction requirements, we also have to follow the law on providing shelter to all who are experiencing homelessness, regardless of background ( we are under court order in New York to provide shelter to all those who need it) — it would be unlawful to discriminate against individuals based on their backgrounds or prior experiences," the Department of Homeless Services said in its letter to Rosenthal.

As previously mentioned, the city did admit a "mistake" in initially placing one individual with resident restrictions in the Belleclaire.

READ MORE:

• UWS Hotel To Become Temporary Homeless Shelter For 283 People
• Remove Sex Offenders From UWS Hotel, Council Member Demands