Posted on September 25, 2020 at 5:16 pm by West Sider
The Lucerne on 79th Street.
There’s been another twist in the saga of The Lucerne, the boutique hotel on 79th Street that became a controversial homeless shelter in late July.
In a development announced late on Friday, the Department of Homeless Services said the men will now be moved into another hotel in “the Wall Street area.” According to UWS Open Hearts initiative, the move is expected to happen on October 5.
In addition, the city plans to site another homeless shelter on the Upper West Side on a longer-term basis, according to a statement from DHS:
- In the short term, the men from the Lucerne will relocate to this Manhattan Community District 1 location, which has sufficient space to provide a full range of on-site services and is closer to their existing medical care, and over the longer-term we will convert this location into a Turning the Tide shelter
- As we have said, the temporary emergency relocation hotels were always intended to be temporary and were not intended to be used in this way on an ongoing basis
- However, in line with the goals of the Turning the Tide plan as outlined above and our commitment to transforming the shelter system and ensuring all communities are participating in the citywide effort to address homelessness, we will site a new shelter facility in Manhattan Community District 7 for the long term
The decision comes after the city had initially planned to move the men into a shelter called the Harmonia on 31st Street that was being used to house families, many of whose members had disabilities. An outcry about that decision led the mayor to reconsider, and he put the moves on hold until Sept. 30.
The city portrayed the latest move as also having to do with fairness — the Wall Street hotel-turned-shelter will be “the first of its kind in this Manhattan Community District.” Project Renewal, the nonprofit that runs The Lucerne shelter, will also be in charge of this shelter.
We are awaiting word on when and where the new shelter is expected to be placed.
Legal Aid, which had opposed the original move and even threatened a lawsuit, applauded the mayor’s decision. “We have received assurances that the men living at the Lucerne Hotel will be placed in safe shelter settings, with the City continuing to fully accommodate their specific needs, which will allow them to socially distance and easily access critical healthcare services,” the organization said in a statement.
Attorney Randy Mastro, who represents the West Side Community Organization, the group that led the drive to move the men out of The Lucerne, also praised the mayor, saying, “today’s announcement is a major step forward in doing right by this neighborhood and this vulnerable population.”
But UWS Open Hearts, which didn’t want the men moved, was upset about it, claiming it was motivated by “selfishness.”
Statement from UWS Open Hearts co-founder Corinne Low. This move is supposed to happen October 5th—the mayor has 10 days to decide if this is what he wants his legacy to be. pic.twitter.com/fpiWk2fyUR
— UWS Open Hearts Initiative (@UWSOpenHearts) September 25, 2020
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Lucerne Residents Will Be Moved to Wall Street Hotel, But Another Shelter Is Coming - westsiderag.com
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