Harlem & UWS Officials, Advocates, & Lucerne Res Protest Transfer, Push for Equity & Shared Responsibility

NEW YORK, NY (10/18/2020) (readMedia)-- On Monday -- the same day the men are scheduled to leave the Lucerne for a hotel downtown -- Senator Brian Benjamin, Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal, Councilmember Helen Rosenthal, Lucerne shelter residents, UWS Open Hearts and members of the Greater Harlem Coalition will urge all New Yorkers to commit to health equity and shared responsibility in caring for the homeless. Communities of color already house a disproportionate number of shelters and treatment facilities, compared to whiter, wealthier neighborhoods like the UWS which can afford to hire lawyers to override public policy.

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 are moving -- in the middle of a pandemic -- for the third or even fourth time.