As Maspeth’s battle against the conversion of the Holiday Inn Express into a homeless shelter continues, elected officials throughout Queens are taking the fight straight to the mayor’s doorsteps.
Four Queens lawmakers – Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley, State Senator Joseph Addabbo, State Senator Jose Peralta and Councilman Barry Grodenchik – demanded solutions from Mayor Bill de Blasio and the Department of Homeless Services, rather than warehousing homeless people in hotels.
Citing the record-high 60,000 homeless population, Crowley said the mayor’s policies have simply not worked.
“This is a clear example of how the de Blasio administration does not know what they’re doing,” Crowley said. “It’s clear, the left hand does not know what the right hand is doing.”
Addabbo claimed the de Blasio administration hasn’t listened to his or the community’s suggestions. He emphasized that the city should have approached the community to solicit input, rather than “dictating” the hotel’s conversion.
“This all could’ve been avoided if early on, the administration worked with us and our communities on this growing crisis,” he said.
State Senator Peralta was upset that DHS was placing homeless families in a Holiday Inn in Corona without notifying elected officials. Councilman Barry Grodenchik had a similar problem in Bellerose. In both situations, the elected officials claimed they heard about the homeless living in hotels through constituents, rather than city officials.
Peralta said after what happened at the Westway Inn, where he said DHS officials weren’t forthcoming about a shelter conversion, he doesn’t trust DHS anymore.
“Lying is in the DNA of DHS,” he said. “That is what happens on a daily basis.”
The officials touted potential solutions to the homeless crisis, including a proposal presented by Queens Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi that would invest $500 million in rent subsidizes to keep people in their homes. Another idea brought up was taking vacant lots in the city and building modular housing on them for the homeless.
But the ideas have simply fallen on deaf ears, officials said.
“We are here to offer assistance, but we can’t have an administration that doesn’t listen,” Addabbo said.
