COVID-19 Homeless Hotel Program End Sends Unhoused New Yorkers Back to Unsafe Shelters
Ending of the COVID-19 “de-densification” program forced thousands of unhoused New Yorkers back into shelter environments that inadequately protect residents from Delta Variant.
Written October 20, 2021
New York City officially closed the last of 60 COVID-19 homeless hotels last month, sending over 9,000 unhoused people back onto the street or into shelters that are unequipped to handle the spread of the growing Delta variant.
NYC Mayor Bill De Blasio opened the hotels in April of 2020 with the idea of lessening the spread of the virus in shelters by moving people into unused hotel rooms, providing the unhoused a greater sense of safety, privacy and autonomy compared to their previous living conditions.
Then, in June 2021, before the brunt of the Delta variant’s spread hit, De Blasio announced the phased ending of this “de-densification” program, arguing that shelters would be better suited to help give support to those experiencing homelessness.
“There was no reason to move people out of these hotels at this time,” said Joshua Goldfein, a staff lawyer with The Legal Aid Society…
