Queens electeds denounce city’s removal of former
Rikers Island inmates to Fresh Meadows hotel
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
Queens lawmakers are calling out
the city for its failure to notify community
residents about the relocation
of formerly incarcerated individuals
from Rikers Island to the Wyndham
Garden Hotel in Fresh Meadows.
Councilmembers Barry Grodenchik
and Rory Lancman, who received
an onsite briefing on June 24 by representatives
of the mayor’s office, said
the city’s “failure to inform the community,
elected officials, local community
board or civic leaders, was a serious
mistake.”
“Standing with the local community,
our position is that the facility must
prevent negative security incidents
both in the hotel and in the surrounding
area, demonstrate success in placing
residents in permanent housing,
and establish a functioning community
dialogue,” the lawmakers said in
a joint statement.
Since mid-March, the Mayor’s Office
of Criminal Justice (MOCJ) has
been working with the Office of Emergency
Management to provide secure
and stable housing to those leaving the
city’s jail system without a place to stay,
according to MOCJ.
More than 100 individuals have been
staying at the Wyndham Gardens Hotels
at 61-27 186th St. in response to the
public health and safety threat posted
by COVID-19, according to MOCJ, as it
was a clear priority to keep the homeless
system from the additional burden
of dealing with those released from jail
during the pandemic.
“Protecting the health and safety
of all New Yorkers was what drove the
rapid jail population reduction at the
start of the COVID-19 crisis,” said Colby
Hamilton, chief of public affairs at
MOJC. “This and other hotels have provided
an invaluable network of stable,
reliable lodging for those in need, keeping
people departing the jail system
out of congregate housing, in example
shelters, while we work with them to
find more permanent living situations
going forward.”
The relocation of the former inmates
at the hotel sparked an online
petition signed by local residents, who
called on elected officials to step in and
take action.
“We need to feel safe in our community.
Our families and loved ones,
young and old, count on us to protect
them. To use this hotel as a halfway
house is a betrayal of our community
by both elected officials and the hotel
ownership,” the petition said. “It is a
betrayal of those being housed there
as well; as an impoverished halfway
house is not only expensive but an
inadequate halfway solution that
The Wyndham Garden Hotel in Fresh Meadows, where more than 100 people are staying after the city removed them from Rikers
Island. Photo via Google Maps
‘kicks the can down the road’ when it
comes to responsibly and properly addressing
this demographic and their
accompanying needs.’”
In response, Assemblywoman Nily
Rozic, Congresswoman Grace Meng
and Senator Toby Stavisky said the lack
of transparency on the city’s behalf has
been witnessed before in Queens.
“It is unacceptable that the mayor
continues to utilize the same misguided
approach to community engagement
time and time again despite the frustrations
expressed by residents and
elected offices,” the lawmakers said.
According to the Grodenchik and
TIMESLEDGER |2 QNS.COM | JULY 3-JULY 9, 2020
Lancman, the hotel’s capacity is about
140 rooms, so the population will not
exceed that number. The facility is being
run by a nonprofit organization
called Exodus Transitional Community,
which is under a city contract
to provide wraparound services, including
case management, job placement,
meals, and assistance finding
permanent housing.
The residents staying in the hotel
are only temporary until they have permanent
housing available, according to
the mayor’s office. A private security
firm has been hired and is onsite to
monitor the building and its perimeter
as well as the surrounding area.
“Normally, those who are released
from city and state correctional facilities
return to their families and communities,
according to the mayor’s
office, while those who lack housing options
sometimes enter the city’s shelter
system,” the lawmakers said.
Before the city set up temporary
hotel housing, some people remained
in jail even after their release dates because
they had nowhere safe to go, so
this program also aims, according to
the mayor’s office, to avoid overcrowding
in correctional facilities and help
stop the spread of the coronavirus.
The individuals in Wyndham Hotel
do not have coronavirus; those who do
are isolated in other hotels as part of
the city’s pandemic response.
In response to the lawmaker’s request,
Exodus has agreed to set up a
community advisory board, to include
local elected officials, community
board representatives, and civic and
tenant leaders who represent the adjacent
communities. The board will
meet regularly to address any issues
that may arise.
Reach reporter Carlotta Mohamed
by e-mail at cmohamed@schnepsmedia.
com or by phone at (718) 260–4526.
We need to feel safe in our community.
Our families and loved ones, young
and old, count on us to protect them.
To use this hotel as a halfway house
is a betrayal of our community by
both elected officials and the hotel
ownership.
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