Your Neighborhood — Your News®
THE NEWSPAPER OF FLUSHING, AUBURNDALE, KEW GARDENS HILLS & FRESH MEADOWS
75 cents
GET THE LATEST NEWS EVERY DAY AT QNS.COM
June 19-25, 2020
DHS relocating Bronx shelter
residents to College Pt. hotel
MUCH-NEEDED DONATION
Congressman Tom Suozzi (third from right) distributed more than 3,000 pieces of PPE to the
residents and employees at North Shore Towers in Floral Park. Courtesy of Suozzi’s offi ce
BY ZACHARY GEWELB
Three northeast Queens
lawmakers are calling for
more transparency and better
communication from the Department
of Homeless Services
after learning that the agency
is transferring 96 residents of
a Bronx men’s homeless shelter
into a College Point hotel.
State Senator John Liu, City
Councilman Paul Vallone and
Assemblyman Daniel Rosenthal
released a joint statement
after learning of the transfer
that is sending the Bronx residents
to the Fairfield Hotel at
28-66 College Point Blvd.
A spokesperson for Vallone’s
office said that is the
lawmakers’ understanding
that DHS began transferring
the residents Friday, June 12.
In their statement, the lawmakers
said DHS promised
that the move is a “temporary
arrangement.”
The transfer comes as
DHS continues its effort to relocate
non-symptomatic and
non-asymptomatic homeless
individuals from congregate
shelters to low-density settings
during the COVID-19
pandemic.
DHS had previously re-
located residents of a Rockaway
Park homeless shelter
to a commercial hotel and
moved residents from a College
Point homeless shelter to
a hotel.
DSS spokesperson Isaac
McGinn said that while the
agency cannot confirm specific
locations that they may
be using to provide temporary
shelter where social service recipients
are residing because
the information is protected
by NYS Social Services Law,
the use of commercial hotels is
“an essential part of our strategies
for protecting the New
Yorkers who we serve.”
“At DSS, we’re confident
that our strategies for combatting
COVID-19 and protecting
the 60,000-plus New Yorkers we
serve on any given night have
effectively flattened our curve,
which has closely tracked citywide
trends,” McGinn said.
McGinn said that approximately
12,000 shelter residents
have been relocated to commercial
hotel settings and that
DSS has been working with the
city’s Department of Health
and NYC Health + Hospitals
to provide care to its most vulnerable
clients, including seniors
and single adults.
“We will continue to pursue
these strategies, including
moving up to 1,000 additional
clients each week as needed,
because it is best for our clients,
redoubling our efforts
and evolving with this situation
to ensure we’re supporting
our clients in all that we
do,” he said.
But Vallone, Liu and Rosenthal
criticized the agency for a
“lack of communication and
transparency” regarding its
plans during the pandemic.
“In a pattern of rushed decision
making, DHS just weeks
ago relocated homeless women
from the College Point shelter
on 20th Avenue to a hotel in a
different neighborhood. Uprooting
the neighborhood’s
current residents and transferring
homeless individuals
across boroughs during a
pandemic is an irresponsible
policy,” the lawmakers said.
Vol. 29 No. 25 40 total pages
2021
NOMINATE
NOW!
NOMINATE YOUR FAVORITES AT
BESTOF.QNS.COM
CALL 718-260-2554
WITH ANY QUESTIONS
/QNS.COM
/BESTOF.QNS.COM
