BREAKING: Judge Rules UWS Shelter Residents Can Stay at the Lucerne

Grants TRO pending the outcome of a November 16th hearing

NEW YORK, NY (10/19/2020) (readMedia)-- Today, a judge ruled in favor of the men living at the Lucerne shelter, issuing a temporary restraining order (TRO) allowing them to stay at the hotel until a scheduled hearing on November 16. In response, Corinne Low, co-founder of UWS Open Hearts, and Lucerne resident Da Homeless Hero issued the following joint statement:

"We are grateful to Judge Debra James for slapping back the City's poorly conceived plan to not only displace Lucerne residents during a pandemic, but deprive them of critical support services. Although a well connected, wealthy group has spent three months and hundreds of thousands of dollars harassing people in need, no neighborhood is exempt from the shared responsibility we all have to make room for struggling New Yorkers. It's time for the Mayor to stand up for sane public policy and stop cowering to well funded, private interests."

Lawyers for the men filed a request for a TRO late Sunday night, along with affidavits from Lucerne shelter residents, a physician who specializes in substance abuse, a social worker, and a co-founder of UWS Open Hearts attesting to the needless and harmful nature of the move, and a statement of support from Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer.

The good news comes the same day the men were supposed to move, and just minutes after Harlem and UWS officials rallied for them to stay, including Senator Brian Benjamin, Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal, and Councilmember Helen Rosenthal. Joined by the Greater Harlem Coalition and UWS Open Hearts, the group highlighted the hypocrisy in the Mayor caving to some well-funded high-rise dwellers while communities of color house a disproportionate number of shelters and treatment facilities. The group urged all New Yorkers to commit to health equity and shared responsibility in caring for the homeless instead of hiring high priced lawyers to override public policy.

Watch the presser here.

"We should not be debating this homeless shelter or that homeless shelter: we should be talking about permanent housing options for homeless folks. Let's not forget it is our job to focus on the big picture. It is more expensive to have our homeless residents in these shelters than it is to provide permanent housing. Not only is it morally wrong but it's also more expensive. Whose policy created this structure we're now living in? That's what we need to address," said State Senator Brian Benjamin

"What's missing in the conversation with the Mayor and Department of Homeless Services is that we're in the middle of a pandemic. Why are you, Mr. Mayor, considering moving people like chess pieces when we should be concerned about public health? Why should the men of the Lucerne's public health be worth any less than the rest of us?" said Senator Brad Hoylman.

"The men at the Lucerne, and people experiencing homelessness more generally, are not data points on a spreadsheet to be shifted or cattle to be herded without care or thought to their well-being. With each successive step and misstep, the Administration has shown an antipathy toward people experiencing homelessness. The lack of planning has and will continue to undermine the long-term recovery of the men at the Lucerne, and it destabilizes the community of people experiencing homelessness. The City has a responsibility, both legal and ethical, to ensure the physical and emotional well-being of people experiencing homelessness, and it has failed on both account," said Assemblymember Linda B. Rosenthal (D/WF-Manhattan).

"Judge James' Temporary Restraining Order - blocking, for now, City Hall's fixation on uprooting over 200 men from the Lucerne - adds a thoughtful perspective to our homeless crisis, in contrast to the Mayor's disoriented approach," said Councilmember Helen Rosenthal. "It's ironic - to those of us who embraced the Mayor's 2013 "Tale of Two Cities" campaign - to see how this has played out. One New York, where high-priced lawyers call the tune; and their enablers in government cling stubbornly to decisions few support. And another New York, where leadership on issues of poverty and inequality comes more from residents struggling against these conditions, than from city officials elected to reverse them."

In late July, clients of Project Renewal were placed at the Lucene after being transferred from another hotel in Midtown following community objections. Soon after, Bill de Blasio caved to a group of Upper West Siders who started a racist facebook group and raised $150,000 to hire top litigator Randy Mastro to kick Project Renewal shelter residents out of the Lucerne. The Mayor's decision to move the shelter has emboldened NIMBYs across New York City to privately fundraise ever-growing sums to keep shelters out of their neighborhoods.

The issue has become a flashpoint in city politics with nearly every candidate for mayor weighing in against de Blasio's ill conceived decision, as well as powerhouse progressives like Public Advocate Jumaane Williams. Cynthia Nixon, Zephyr Teachout, and Assemblymember Yuh-Line Niou. Just last week, NYC Councilmembers Mark Levine, Carlina Rivera, Steve Levin, and Helen Rosenthal sent a letter demanding that the Department of Homeless Services halt shelter transfers until a COVID-19 vaccine is available. Last week, Corinne Low, co-founder of the UWS Open Hearts Initiative, and Da Homeless Hero, a Lucerne shelter resident, penned an op-ed in the Nation. The piece argues that Mayor de Blasio's decision to cave to pressure from overwhelmingly white families and move hundreds of homeless men of color from their temporary shelter will destroy his progressive legacy, and the community model Open Hearts and shelter residents have built.