New York City: At Least 139 Hotels Are Now Homeless Shelters

homeless man in NYC during COVID-19

When COVID-19 spread across New York City in March, advocates worried homeless people would be especially vulnerable to the virus.

New York City’s crowded congregate homeless shelters were surging, creating a dangerous situation in which COVID-19 could spread quickly across dormitory-style housing. In May, photos were shared of people sleeping on the floor just a few feet apart in one of New York’s intake shelters for homeless people.

Before the spread of COVID-19, the city’s crowded shelter system housed 60,000 people each night, so any outbreaks could be severe. To keep the city’s homeless population safe, thousands of homeless people moved from large, crowded homeless shelters to hotels where they could practice social distancing in private rooms.

But there’s one lingering unanswered question. What happens when the pandemic is over?

The Outbreaks in Homeless Shelters

When COVID-19 began to spread in New York City, it quickly hit the homeless shelter system.

The Coalition for homeless people reported the rate of deaths from coronavirus in New York’s shelter system was 61 percent higher than in the city at large. There have been more than 1,300 positive COVID-19 cases across 200 shelters in New York over three months. While 90 percent of people have recovered, at least 100 homeless people in New York have died from the virus since March.

More than 17,000 people live in homeless shelters across New York City, and 13,000 live in hotels.

New York Hotels Transformed Into Homeless Shelters

In April, a $78 million initial contract was proposed to find hotels for homeless people amid the pandemic. City councilmember Stephen Levin ran this bill.

With no tourists, the city’s hotels remained empty with no sign bookings would return anytime soon. As a result, they agreed upon the contract.

“It’s keeping some cash flow going for the hotels, but we were there. We stepped up when the city had a need,” said Vijay Dandapani, the leader of the city’s Hotel Association.

“Why this happened? They are in shelters in a congregate settings that is arguably, or most definitely, not good for them from a pandemic standpoint. So here they are in individual rooms, you are reasonably well-protected from the virus,” Vijay Dandapani continued.

Isaac Mcginn, a spokesperson for the Department of Social Services, stressed that the city’s program is safe. The plan involves moving anyone with COVID-19 symptoms out of busy shelters and into private isolation units. Since March, around 1,000 people per week have transferred from crowded shelters into hotel rooms.

“Rather than affecting a mass migration of all clients out of shelter, which could create public health concerns, and is not necessary for implementing social distancing guidelines, DSS’ tiered approach focuses on targeting need based on individual vulnerability/potential level as well as site configuration,” Mcginn said.

However, the program doesn’t come without controversy.

Opponents argue the rooms require additional nurses and clinical staff. These added fees could cost an additional $495 million over six months. The Federal Emergency Management Agency would not cover these costs. However, Josh Dean, of Human NYC, believes the Department of Social Services is overestimating the number of homeless people who have substance abuse issues or mental illness.

There are around 700 hotels in New York City. Currently, 139 of them are housing homeless people. That means approximately 20 percent of the city’s hotels are at least partly operating as homeless shelters. However, it’s unclear when these people will leave or where they’ll go next.

The number of moves the city and homeless shelters have done over the past months is vast. However, officials will still not disclose a list of the hotels they’re using to house homeless people. While the goal is to protect residents’ privacy, at least 30 of the hotels are reportedly in Manhattan.

What Happens Next?

It’s looking unlikely that homeless people living in hotels is a permanent policy change.

“The consensus of the city before COVID was commercial hotels were not an appropriate way to shelter people. We are using this only as a temporary bridge to get back where public health can be appropriately protected in a congregate setting,” said Steven Banks, the head of New York’s Department of Social Services.

Various shelter residents living in hotels said they were informed they’d remain in private hotel rooms for around six months. According to Banks, there’s still no move-out date.

“We are going to be governed by public health concerns,” Banks said. “At the point at which it is safe to resume operations of congregate shelters and stop using commercial hotels, we will do that.”

The contract with the hotel association goes through until October.

Of course, nobody knows just how long the pandemic will wreak havoc as a major public health concern. That means the final cost of the contract could potentially grow. Officials couldn’t state by how much, but negotiations are ongoing.

New York City has a commitment from FEMA to pay 75 percent of the hotel rooms’ fees. But all the additional costs, such as the moves and the staff are in the hands of the taxpayers.

Housing Advocacy groups like Vocal NY claim COVID-19 has proven the hotel model can work effectively in protecting vulnerable people.

“We’ve reached the point where we can never see congregate shelters as a safe place for people to go,” stated Joseph Loonam from Vocal NY. “We need to start exploring every option.”

Vocal NY and other groups have argued for more single room occupancy for homeless people. They push to house people before addressing any underlying problems associated with homelessness. These issues can include drug dependency, addiction to alcohol, and employment.

A Second Wave Is Impending

A spokesperson for New York mayor Bill de Blasio claims that all options are being considered to combat homelessness in the long run.

With social distancing regulations recently relaxed, New York City officials are already preparing emergency contracts to address a potential “second wave” COVID-19 outbreak. The New York City Emergency Management has a contract proposal for an operator to continue to run the COVID-19 Hotels Program in case there’s another dramatic spread of COVID-19.

As part of this program, NYCEM is looking for a quick, flexible vendor for a potential second wave outbreak with the resources to scale up or down in response to community needs and requirements.

It’s excellent to know should an impending second wave occur, many of NYC’s homeless people can remain safe in private hotel rooms.

But what happens to the remaining homeless people living on the streets or in busy shelters? And how long can the hotel program realistically last? Only time will tell.


Ellie Swain

Ellie Swain

        

Ellie is a freelance writer who grew up in London. She is passionate about ending homelessness and writes for various publications, non-profits, and marketing agencies to produce content. In her spare time, Ellie loves travelling to new places, exploring her city of London, and listening to live music.

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