Faith Leaders, Lucerne Res, UWS Community Stage Sit-In @ Gracie Mansion to Protest BDB's Tale of Two Cities

NEW YORK, NY (10/15/2020) (readMedia)-- Today, faith leaders, homeless residents from the Lucerne, elected officials, and advocates will stage a sit-in at Gracie Mansion to protest Mayor de Blasio's decision to move shelter residents to the Radisson, and announce a declaration of support of shelter residents by the faith community. The move is scheduled to begin on October 19th, with a downtown NIMBY group threatening to raise $1million to make the men move yet again. This same group filed an injunction today to stop the move. The issue has become a flashpoint in city politics with nearly every candidate for mayor weighing in against de Blasio's ill conceived decision.

In August, 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. As a result, some shelter residents will move -- in the middle of a pandemic -- for the third or even fourth time.