Maspeth protesters rally against NYC homeless shelters
TIMESLEDGER | QNS.COM | AUG. 20 - AUG. 26, 2021 5
BY JULIA MORO
Republican Mayoral Candidate
Curtis Sliwa and about 20 protesters
gathered outside of a Holiday Inn in
Maspeth on the night of Wednesday,
Aug. 11, to rally against neighborhood
homeless shelters in New York City.
The group met at the same spot as
they did five years ago when they successfully
pushed back on the city’s efforts
to turn the Holiday Inn into a permanent
homeless shelter.
After the protestors successfully
shut down plans for that shelter, Sliwa
said the city is again pushing to use
the local Holiday Inn to house homeless
people.
Sliwa told the crowd that the Democratic
Mayoral Candidate Eric Adams
has been talking with incoming Governor
Kathy Hochul to sign a bill that
would allow outer-borough hotels to
be used as mental health and homeless
clinics, citing a New York Post article.
Adams and his team could not be
reached before publication.
“One of the many friends of Mayor
Bill de Blasio will enable the Holiday
Inn to either become a provider of mental
health services for the emotionally
disturbed or become once again a
homeless shelter,” Sliwa said.
Sliwa and protesters criticized de
Blasio and Social Services Commissioner
Steve Banks for their handling
of the homeless in the city, shouting
“dump Steven Banks.”
“You’re in by 10 at night; that’s the
curfew,” Sliwa said. “You get kicked
out by 7:30 a.m. to roam the neighborhoods
that you’ve been put into, many
of whom never came from those neighborhoods.
It creates an adversarial situation
with your neighbors and those
who are now clients of the Department
of Homeless Services, and it’s led to
many, many problems.”
Mitch Schwartz, the deputy press
secretary for Banks, said that the commissioner
had spent his entire career
advocating for New Yorkers in need.
“Banks knows that we can only
solve this crisis if every part of the city
does its share to provide shelter and
transitional housing to those without
homes,” Schwartz said. “The mayor is
grateful for the commissioner’s expertise
and service, and he looks forward
to continuing to fight for equity alongside
him.”
Phil Wong, president of the Chinese-
American Citizens Alliance, spoke at
the rally and detailed his experience
protesting the city moving homeless
families into the Pan American Hotel
back in 2014.
“In the middle of the night, a couple
of buses rushed in several hundred
people into the Pan Am Shelter, and
overnight, the hotel was filled with
homeless families from all over,” Wong
said. “I live right behind the shelter, so
I had front row seats.”
According to The New York Times,
the Department of Homeless Services
notified local officials of the Pan Am
move the day before the buses rolled
in.
“The entire city of New York’s
homeless policy is a failure,” Wong
said. “You see the homeless under the
Long Island Expressway. You see the
homeless in the subways. You see them
everywhere. We are looking at outright
abuse of our tax dollars.”
Sliwa and the organizers refuse
to allow shelters in their neighborhoods,
but Sliwa still said they deserve
housing somewhere. The Republican
candidate recommended
the city consider housing people in
commercial areas where warehouses
are empty.
Republican Mayoral Candidate Curtis Sliwa criticized Mayor Bill de Blasio and Social
Services Commissioner Steven Banks for their homeless crisis policies.
Photo by Julia Moro
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