Fmr HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan Stands w/ Lucerne Residents, Calls for Permanent Housing Options for All NYers

NEW YORK, NY (10/30/2020) (readMedia)-- On Sunday, Shaun Donovan, the former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and previous Commissioner of the NYC Department of Housing, will stop by the Lucerne Hotel to speak with shelter residents, and call for more permanent housing options for all New Yorkers. UWS Open Hearts will be running a Free Store where neighbors donate clothes, technology, and toiletries for shelter residents to "shop" for what they need.

In late July, clients of Project Renewal were placed at the Lucene after being transferred from another hotel in Midtown. 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.

On October 19th, Judge Debra James granted the men a TRO in response to a suite of 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.