NEW YORK -- About 350 homeless Superstorm Sandy evacuees who
have been sleeping in New York City-funded hotel rooms for
nearly a year may be forced to check out for good.
Lawyers for the city argued in Manhattan's state Supreme Court
on Tuesday that the program must end after Monday, when the
Federal Emergency Management Agency says it will stop
reimbursing the city for the program.
The city has spent $70 million to house more than 3,000 refugees
since the storm hit last October, officials said. Each room
costs about $266 per night.
As Sandy battered the East Coast, its storm surge destroyed
homes and cost billions of dollars in damage. Thousands of
people were displaced from uninhabitable homes in New York and
New Jersey.
Only about 350 evacuees are left in the program, but housing
advocates said many of them have no place else to go. The city
said those who don't have other housing arrangements can apply
to stay in one of the city's homeless shelters.
"The city is not saying to families, 'Here, we have a room for
you that will be cheaper for us, we want to move you to this
room,'" said Judith Goldiner, an attorney at the Legal Aid
Society. "What they're saying is, 'We want to stop paying your
hotel room and have you go to our intake center in the south
Bronx and wait a very long time, and go through an arduous
application process to determine whether we think you're going
to be homeless or not.'"
The battle over the program has dragged on for months. In May,
the city tried to end it, citing the financial burden, but a
judge issued a preliminary injunction that kept it alive. The
city is seeking to have that injunction lifted.
"FEMA recently determined that it will not contribute any
funding for this aid beyond Sept. 30," the city said in an
emailed statement. "As a result, there is no longer any basis
for the injunction in place since May, and the city is seeking
to lift it, which would bring the city hotel program to a close."
It's unclear when a judge will issue a ruling on the injunction.
http://www.lakewyliepilot.com/2013/09/25/2087678/nyc-fights-to-
end-hotel-program.html