As of last week, city officials report just seven active cases of coronavirus among Gotham’s homeless population, an accomplishment likely owing much to the city’s spring relocation of 9,500 single adults living in congregate shelters, where they couldn’t safely socially distance, into double-occupancy hotel rooms.
But the move — which makes more fiscal sense when you add in the fact that the feds are picking up 75% of the tab, and that tourist-starved lodging places are getting business — has had a side effect: residents and business owners report a sharp uptick in individuals abusing drugs, defecating, masturbating and attacking and threatening people on nearby streets.
No resident of a city with thousands of destitute and disturbed people has the right to post a “keep out” sign. But the rapid move and its results demand a stronger response.
First, officials should answer concerns that a few neighborhoods are bearing a disproportionate burden. A city map of the temporary homeless hotels shows Midtown and the UWS currently have 23 such hotels, the largest share by far.
To be sure, the majority of NYC’s hotel rooms are there, and many other neighborhoods have more than their share of other shelters. But analysis shouldn’t end there. The city must detail how many residents have been placed in each neighborhood, and where vacant hotel rooms exist.
Enforcement is imperative.
Quality of life offenses remain against the law, for good reason. If the NYPD is in hands-off mode for fear of a video going viral, the police commissioner has to disabuse his cops of their hesitancy — or the city must find other enforcers that will.