STORIES:

“This [is] why I wrote my will …”

“…The hallways are so tight that two people passing are going to touch if not careful. The shelter has asked residents to abide by a 3 foot personal space … There is clustering in the dining halls line and the bathrooms while brushing your teeth shoulder to shoulder … DHS was late in handing out face masks to staff, and even later for residents … There has been no Purell inserts in the Purell machines, almost 3 weeks now …” - Victoria Wolf

Listen to Victoria’s story about her shelter in Queens:

“If the city would provide hotel rooms at this time it would be a great relief and help to keep us all safe.”

“3 months ago I lost my job and ended up on the streets, sleeping under a scaffold on the sidewalk with my partner […] They say the lockdown will continue into June. I don’t know what to do. I’m worried and scared. I’m so stressed out I can’t sleep… I don’t know how I’m going to survive the next week.”

“It’s a hot mess”

“Today is April 1, 2020, and I can clearly see this is not a joke. I may have coronavirus and I’m still in a shelter where I have to share a room. I’ve had mild symptoms like a slight fever and coughing since Saturday…”

“This is what they’re doing to us”

Like many other residents at the Bedford Atlantic shelter, A. has been recently transferred to Jerome Avenue shelter due to the record number of people entering shelters at the moment. In this video, he documents the unsafe conditions he and fellow transferred residents are being put through:

"Look at what they're doing to us.... We were safe man in our beds, in other shelters. They lied to us, they told us we'd have beds here. We've been going through this for four days and it's going to continue for at least two weeks. Two of us already caught the sickness by going back and forth. [...] Instead of placing us in hotels where we would be safe, this is what they're doing to us."

“This campaign gave me a room of my own - not being on the run, looking for a safe place to sleep, inspires one to have hope.”

so this is coronavirus 2020, new york subway … the night before the city being shut down …

treating us like pawns in chess, regardless the crisis
covid 19 arrived and all doors close
homeless living with traumatic brain injury
prone to seizure
human resources cancelled all appointments
they said call for an interview, but no phone
shelters didn’t feel safe, waking up after seizures
head bleeding confused and scared
wandered the streets seeking safety
computers hard to find, impossible to stay connected
libraries closed, nowhere to go
homeless can’t stay home
this campaign gave me a room of my own
not being on the run, looking for a safe place to sleep
inspires one to have hope

“My personal hygiene suffered because the city recreation center where I use to shower closed. Then my public storage shutdown their customer service area where I use to charge my phone and this limited my means to communicate. A week before the Official MTA shutdown the police started forcing me off the train into unfamiliar areas where I felt unsafe…

Then Homeless Can’t Stay Home offered me this hotel room. I have been staying here for two weeks now. I am starting to feel focused since having a safe place to sleep…”

“I've been homeless for over a year. When covid-19 first hit New York I wasn't expecting it to be as bad as it is. It felt unreal. Like a complete nightmare. I couldn't maintain a job cause of homelessness and didn’t have any money to feed myself, or a place to shower. I was worried about my family too. I felt powerless to help them and then my mom got sick with covid. She died 2 weeks ago…”

“I am in a hotel room at the Gatsby on East Houston. I don't have a place to call home but now i do. I feel safer during this pandemic crisis. [Homeless Can’t Stay Home] helped to make it possible for me and many homeless individuals to be in hotel rooms. I am very thankful not to be in an overcrowded shelter during this coronavirus dilemma…”

I could have been in supportive housing before the outbreak. Now I am stuck in a building full of angry, complacent, fearful staff who are doing nothing to properly protect any of the residents. Seems to me like DHS's point of view is that some New Yorkers aren't worth the effort…

Here are photos of a two-person shared room at a shelter in Washington Heights, Manhattan.

Yet, they report on how homeless people have taken refuge on the subways during this crisis..no one is reporting conditions on any of the shelters..are they safe to go to during this crisis?

“I have been on the streets for close to 9 years. This is the first time I have been able lay out in a bed for close to 9 years.”

“Last week, there was a rumor that someone on the first floor may have had Corona. They took a few people out in an ambulance and the reason wasn’t clear. Security didn’t announce why.”

“Four separate sanitizer dispensers at my new men’s shelter in Brooklyn and all of them are empty. My previous shelter had the same issues…”

“I have been in a DV shelter since September 2019. I was in the middle of getting an apartment with my FHEPS voucher when COVID-19 locked the city down. My case manager has been hard to get in touch with because she is the only one working right now (everyone else is sick or has quit) and when I ask her questions, she tells me to google it.

Now I am being told that DHS wants to transfer me and my two daughters who are 6 and 7 years old…”

Do you have a story to share about your experience in shelter or on the street during COVID-19? Share your story here.

STATEMENTS:

February 18:

HomelessCantStayHome calls on the City to immediately open single hotel rooms for all homeless New Yorkers who need them

August 12: Letter to NYC Officials after 5 months: we urge immediate action

Read the letter

July 21: Letter to Commissioner Banks: secure permanent homes for those staying in hotel rooms

Read the letter

June 26: #HomelessCantStayHome campaign and 55 organizations call for defunding NYPD, funding permanent housing

Statement from organizations:
55 organizations call on Mayor de Blasio and City Council to remove NYPD from homeless outreach and invest in permanent housing

Statement from New Yorkers staying in hotel rooms funded by #HomelessCantStayHome GoFundMe:
We need stability and permanent housing, not policing

June 17: Defunding the NYPD

Statement:
Joining Calls to Defund NYPD by at least $1 Billion, #HomelessCantStayHome Campaign Demands Mayor and City Council Reinvest in Housing for the Homeless

Report:
Defund The NYPD: Homeless New Yorkers Need Housing, Not Police!

April 29: #HomelessCantStayHome campaign responds to increased NYPD-led homeless outreach

#HomelessCantStayHome Campaign’s joint statement in response to Mayor de Blasio’s new initiative to increase NYPD-led homeless outreach during COVID-19

April 21: #HomelessCantStayHome campaign responds to proposed legislation to protect homeless New Yorkers

After Weeks of Inaction by Mayor de Blasio, City Council Speaker Johnson & Council Member Levin Introduce Bill To Protect Homeless New Yorkers During COVID-19

April 19: #HomelessCantStayHome campaign and 210+ professionals make the public health case for private hotel rooms

Sign-on letter:
An open letter to Mayor de Blasio and Governor Cuomo from health professionals, calling for emergency action to make vacant hotel rooms available to homeless New Yorkers

April 11: #HomelessCantStayHome campaign responds to Mayor’s announcement

Mayor’s Announcement Offers To Move 2,500 People To Hotels, Despite 30,000 Needed Rooms To Protect Homeless

MAP:

There are over 100,000 empty hotel rooms in NYC.

Click on each hotel to see how many floors it has.
While many homeless New Yorkers are trying to survive on the streets or in dorm-style shelters where social distancing is simply impossible, the city is full of vacant hotels. The city must save lives by offering empty hotel rooms to all homeless people who need a safe place to shelter NOW!

PRESS:

“Despite CDC Guidance, De Blasio Ramps Up Destruction Of Homeless Encampments,” Gothamist, May 29, 2020

“Council bill would house homeless in hotels,” The Real Deal, April 21, 2020

“Some NYC Homeless Practice Social Distancing in Hotels, With Help from Donors,” The City, April 20, 2020

“NYC asks affordable housing developers to house more homeless New Yorkers,” Curbed NY, April 17, 2020

“NYC commits to housing more homeless individuals in empty hotel rooms,” Curbed NY, April 13, 2020

Statement from the #HomelessCantStayHome campaign, 11 April 2020: Mayor’s Announcement Offers To Move 2,500 People To Hotels, Despite 30,000 Needed Rooms To Protect Homeless.

“Cuomo Urges Caution on Rush to Reopen N.Y.: Live Updates > N.Y.C. will move hundreds of homeless people into hotels as deaths in shelters surge.” The New York Times, April 11, 2020

“NYC homeless shelter in revolt over unsanitary coronavirus conditions” New York Post, April 11, 2020

“Where the homeless should go: No one should be on the street or in a congregate shelter with coronavirus raging” Daily News, April 11, 2020

“Homeless crisis amid a pandemic” Fox 5, April 7, 2020

“Activistas piden que hoteles en Nueva York den refugio a desamparados para protegerlos del coronavirus” UNIVISION 7 Abr 2020

“The Homeless Can’t Shelter-on-Place: Advocates Call for NYC to Put Empty Hotel Rooms to Use” The Indypendent April 5, 2020

Homeless People Need Shelter. Hotels Are Empty. Why Aren’t Cities Acting?” Vice, April 3, 2020

“Shelter Providers Say Lack of Protective Gear Puts Workers and Homeless in Danger” Politico April 2, 2020

“New York City has Done Almost Nothing to Protect 70,000 People in its Homeless Shelters from Coronavirus Spread” The Intercept, April 2, 2020

“Cast Adrift by the Virus, the Newly Homeless Seek a Place to Recover” The City April 2, 2020

“Housing Not Shelters: Amid Pandemic, Homeless New Yorkers Demand Refuge in Vacant Apartments, Hotels” Democracy Now! March 30, 2020

“NYC Forces Homeless Off Streets Despite Coronavirus Fears” Patch March 30, 2020

“ ‘There’s No Plan’: Homeless Brace for Coronavirus” The Real Deal March 30, 2020

“Living 20 To A Room, NYC Homeless Face High Risk Of Coronavirus In Congregate Shelters” Gothamist, March 20, 2020

“No Virus Tracking for Homeless People on Streets and Subways” The City March 29, 2020

“Coronavirus Threatens to Overwhelm Cities’ Safety Net” Wall Street Journal March 29, 2020

“Their Lives are not Disposable” CBS News March 27, 2020

“The Coronavirus Pandemic Has Made the Opioid Epidemic Even Worse” Buzzfeed March 27, 2020

“Online Learning Means Barriers for NYC’s Homeless Students” City Limits March 27, 2020

“NYC Elected Officials Call on City and State to House Homeless in Empty Apartments” New York Daily News March 25, 2020

“Homeless Man Says NYC Hospital Sent Him Back to Shelter with Coronavirus Symptoms” New York Daily News March 25, 2020

“How Can New York City Protect the Homeless From Coronavirus?” Curbed March 25, 2020

“Patients Denied Take-Home Doses at Packed Brooklyn Methadone Clinic, Sparking Fears of Coronavirus Transmission” New York Daily News March 24, 2020

“Advocates Demand Help for Vulnerable Prisoners, Homeless Folks” Gay City News March 23, 2020

“An Open Letter to Governor Cuomo” on Medium March 22, 2020

“A High-Stakes Race to Help NYC’s Homeless As Coronavirus Spreads” The City March 22, 2020

“NYC Council Speaker Demands City Protect Street Homeless” New York Daily News March 20,2020

“City Pressured to Reduce Jail Population Amid Coronavirus Crisis” City Limits March 18, 2020

“First Homeless Shelter Resident Tests Positive for Coronavirus” The City March 17, 2020

“Homeless New Yorkers at Greater Risk from COVID-19” City & State March 17, 2020

“Handing Out Hand Sanitizer May Not Be Enough to Stop the Pandemic Among Unsheltered People” Mother Jones March 17, 2020

“What Life Looks Like For One Of 3,600 Homeless People Living On NYC Streets” Gothamist March 16, 2020

“No Hand Sanitizer for Homeless Living on Streets, Even as Virus Spreads” The City March 13, 2020

“City Doing Hundreds of Homeless ‘Clean-Ups’ Each Year” City Limits March 9, 2020

“COVID Concerns Spread Among Homeless New Yorkers” Queens Daily Eagle March 5, 2020

OUR DEMANDS:

Immediately offer 30,000 of the city's 100,000+ vacant hotel rooms to all homeless people who need a safe room, including those on the streets, those in congregate shelters, and those who have recently become homeless.COVID19 will continue its rapid spread among NYC's homeless population if we do not offer safe housing now so that people can safely social distance and practice personal hygiene, regardless of whether or not they are sick. Other cities and states have already started to implement plans to offer hotel rooms to homeless people (whether or not they are sick with COVID-19), including in Connecticut and New Orleans. Click here to read more about how this could be funded.

If you are able to donate or share, we have launched a GoFundMe to help us secure hotel rooms for homeless people until the government acts on our demands.

Health professionals, please read and sign our open letter from the health community in support of this demand!

Stop all law enforcement sweeps, diversion, and targeting of homeless New Yorkers:
In the midst of this pandemic, the City has continued to conduct forcible “sweeps” and “clean-ups” targeting homeless people living on the streets in addition to harassing homeless people on subways via the coercive “Subway Diversion Program.” This is cruel, dangerous, and explicitly against CDC guidance. It must stop immediately.

Implement an immediate plan to provide permanent homes for every homeless New Yorker.Hotel rooms are a short-term solution. Everyone should have a permanent home. There is still tremendous housing stock in vacant City or State-owned and privately-owned buildings, including vacant rent-stabilized units, condos, vacant HPD Housing Connect Units (some of which are currently reserved for those making over six figures), empty NYCHA units, and empty supportive housing units. These units must all be made available to homeless New Yorkers immediately. Now that vacancy decontrol has been rolled back, renovating and renting vacant apartments that have been vacant for years would result in a surge of available very affordable rentals, saving the City millions of dollars. City rental subsidies must also be increased to reflect rents in New York City and must be made available to all who are homeless so that homeless New Yorkers can locate permanent homes and move out.