In a moment between details about the city's plan to close schools for the term, Mayor Bill de Blasio revealed this morning that thousands of people in the homeless shelter system would move to hotels during the coronavirus pandemic. "We are doing that because we think that is the right balance to strike as we ensure that people get what they need to be safe," he said.
According to the mayor, 6,000 homeless individuals who are single will move into hotels. "Those who will be prioritized across our shelter system for transfer to hotels, will include seniors, will include, of course, anyone with symptoms of COVID-19, or who tested positive for COVID-19," de Blasio explained. "They will be isolated in hotel settings. And anybody in shelters where it's been difficult to achieve social distancing."
Last month, residents at congregate shelters—where residents share a room (sometimes dozens to a room) and have communal meals—raised concerns to Gothamist / WNYC, with one saying, “You actually got people that are sick. They're coughing. They’re not covering their mouths.”
"Where it's clear to our Department of Social Services and our Department of Homeless Services that social distancing cannot be achieved properly, a number of those clients will be moved to hotels to achieve the balance, to make sure there is the proper social distancing," the mayor said on Saturday. "So, we will use those hotels aggressively as a tool to support homeless individuals, to strike the right balance in our shelters to make sure people who need to be isolated are isolated."
The Department of Social Services said that there were 1,000 commercial hotel units available now and more were "being brought online." The department did not disclose the hotels, but the NY Post listed apparent locations earlier this week.
Stephen Banks, Commissioner of the New York City Human Resources Administration and Department of Social Services, also provided an update about the 58,000 people in the homeless shelter system. "So far, we've had 343 positive cases, 20 deaths among those 343 cases; 19 of those deaths were after a period of hospitalization, and one after someone was self-isolating."
He continued, "Within that 343 positive cases, in addition to the 20 people that passed away – and my, my heart goes out to them and their loved ones – there were 37 individuals who've been discharged, meaning their cases have been resolved. 139 are in isolation, a space that we created within our shelter system portfolio; 81 are in the hospital; 35 are self-isolating – that means they're in families with children or... where the individual is in a family that has a self-contained living unit; and 31 have made other arrangements and reunited with family or friends in the community."
There are also about 4,000 people who live on the streets; Banks said that there have been 12,000 outreach encounters since mid-March, with workers speaking to individuals and observing whether they have symptoms of coronavirus. "Out of all of those engagements, 12 individuals from the street have been transported to the hospital for testing and all of them thus far have come out to be negative," he said.
Homeless Can't Stay Home NYC, a group made up of homeless advocacy groups including Picture the Homeless, Human.NYC, Vocal-NY, Communities United for Police Reform, and the Urban Justice Center, released a statement urging the city to open more hotel rooms. "Additional resources are a welcome step. However, thousands of human beings will still be left on the streets and tens of thousands will be left in highly dangerous shelters. Failure to immediately help all homeless New Yorkers will result in a failed public health response that will not stop the spread of COVID-19," said Peter Malvan, advocate and homeless New Yorker. The group says 30,000 hotel rooms should be opened.
