Rosemarie Oliveto
Maria Cipriani
April 14th
Annotated Bibliography
Homelessness In NYC
QUESTION: Are hotels a solution to a permanent and growing problem for the homeless population?
INTRODUCTION: It is no secret that hotels have become a new home for the homeless population of New York City.
There are more homeless shelter hotels than real hotels in NYC. Right near my house there is an elementary school, and a few blocks down from the elementary school is a Super 8 hotel that houses homeless men.
● 20 percent of NYC hotels have been transformed into homeless housing.
● Types of people who live in hotel housing range from women,men,children,elders and people in between.
There are a few things I would like to learn and find out from my research. I would like to find out who made the decision to house the homeless in New York City hotels.
● Next, are there plans for a permanent housing shelter after COVID-19?
Personally, I would like to connect with the people that need to live in these places, through the articles. .
Within my research, I would like to hear the side of the hotel employees dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic inside the housing shelter.
● Who is paying for the resources?
● Where are the funds for the mentally ill homeless population in NYC?
● How does the cleaning staff feel during COVID-19? Will these housing hotels be closed even after new placements occur?
● While doing research, I found that there is also tons of taxpayer money going into the homeless hotel sheltered everyday.
● Up to 1 million dollars is being used every day to run these hotel shelters. In these shelters there is often violence, close living, COVID-19 and fights.
● Mayor Deblasio says that he has a plan to create permanent homeless housing shelters, but he can’t give a timeline just yet. What will all of this cost the taxpayers of NYC ? There is a different pandemic occurring, the Homeless Pandemic.
Sources
Text: https://newyork.cbslocal.com/2021/04/06/new-york-city-hotel-homeless-shelters/amp/
Mayor Bill De Blasio Says City Will Stop Using Hotels As Homeless Shelters, ‘A Little More Work’ Needed Before Offering Timeline
Carlin, Dave, CBS NewYork News, April 2021
SUMMARY:
In this article Carlin discusses Mayor DeBlasio’s input into the homeless shelter situation. According to the article, “overall crime is up 4.2% for Midtown South Precinct, which covers parts of Hell’s Kitchen.” There is a link between crime and the homeless population in NYC. Carlin brings that up when he says “Some of it is being blamed on dozens of hotels used as shelters, housing mostly law-abiding individuals experiencing homelessness, but also some clients described as dangerously mentally ill”. Carlin is primarily speaking about the crime linked to the homeless people who are mentally ill. Carlin begins to talk about Mayor DeBlasio’s involvement when he says “Mayor Bill de Blasio vowed Tuesday to get the city out of the hotel homeless shelter business.” Carlin admits that this will take time to happen, “Despite admitted problems with the system, making the transition could take several months.”
RHETORICAL ANALYSIS:
According to Carlin’s article based on Mayor DeBlasio, there will be a change coming soon for the homeless population of NYC. Homeless people in hotel shelters will take a while to relocate and there will be major changes made. In the article, there are people who discuss the fear they have felt when witnessing crimes committed by the mentally ill homeless people. “Security cameras at Rudy’s Bar, which Danny Depamphilis manages, catch crime after crime.” There are people around when crimes happen and there are cameras watching at all times. In front of my house we have cameras and we often see crimes.
Nobody really knows why someone could be on the street, but when a person is mentally ill and homeless, there needs to be some form of help. That brings up the question of where are the funds for the mentally ill in the NYC Hotel homeless shelters? Mayor DeBlasio is unclear about timelines when discussing homeless shelter construction. I feel that the audience the author was trying to reach is adults/elders. This is a very short and straightforward article discussing the growing population of homeless people in NYC and the surrounding areas, and I learned that Mayor DeBlasio has a plan, which is hopeful but I am wondering about the timeline.
NEXT SOURCE( MULTIMODAL): https://youtu.be/9uejNIj_lho
Hettinger,Marianne August 15th.2020 Homeless resident of The Lucerne Hotel speaks out
Marianne Hettinger interviewed a homeless man that is staying at The Lucerne Hotel. Some of the questions she asked the man named Michael, were things like how did you end up at the Lucerne and how did you end up in shelters at all ? Michael explained that he was a heroin,and crack cocaine addict who lived on the streets. Michael said that when he moved into the Lucerne things started looking up for him. When Michael got his own room, he was able to get clean by himself.Then, he got a roommate and stayed clean. Michael discussed the fact that many men do drugs in their dorms/rooms and shared that the people seen on the streets doing the crimes are mainly the mentally ill people. Michael made it clear that he is able to get help in the shelter because there is a facility for drug addicts in recovery. Hettinger asks “ What are your thoughts about the homeless men not wearing masks and socially distancing dring COVID-19?” Michael responded by saying it is unfair to judge the homeless based on how they look when there are many people around the world not specially distancing and they aren’t as harshly judged.
RHETORICAL ANALYSIS:
While I was watching this, I felt empathetic for the men who have to live in these hotel shelters. Some of them need professional help and aren’t getting what they need due to insufficient funds. The Mayor’s wife is responsible for the funding and has the money, but she isn’t saying where it is nor is she doing anything for the people who need it. Listening to Michael reiterate the fact that the mentally ill need help, and explaining how they don’t have access to these treatments despite there being over eight hundred million in funding for the mentality ill that’s mysteriously gone missing, shows how much they really do need help. Michael furthers his point when he says that he wishes the recovering addicts and the mentally ill were separated as they both require different treatments and can be a danger to one another.
Something that wasn’t shocking but was sad was the fact that there are tons of drugs being taken and done in these hotel shelters whilst people are recovering. It’s like a cruel joke, once you get clean here there’s another thing to keep you stuck! It’s very messed up. Hopefully, there are changes made in the system that will help with these conditions. The target audience is mainly young adults and adults. I think this interview gives a great insight on what the people feel like living there. Many people who live in those places did not choose that, although it can be from an accumulation of what that person did through their life.
FINAL SOURCE: https://abc7ny.com/amp/7-on-your-side-investigates-investigation-new-york-city/10447989/
‘PROBLEMATIC’ HOMELESS HOTELS COSTING NYC TAXPAYERS MILLIONS
Krauth, Dan , March 25,2021, abc7 news
In Krauth’s article, he discusses the money factor of the homeless population. How is this affecting the wallets of New York City citizens? Well, according to the article, “Taxpayers are paying up to $1 million dollars a night to house the homeless in New York City since the pandemic started and, as of now, there’s no end in sight.” This quote says that taxpayers are paying up to one million dollars per night and this is not ending soon. When the pandemic started apparently “12,000 homeless people out of crowded shelters and into more than 60 hotels to keep them safe and socially distanced”. With this information, we know that the hotels were a temporary fix during the pandemic, as the pandemic continues, how is the tax paying neighborhood feeling? Generally unsafe, Travis Rogers who lives in Hell’s Kitchen said this on the matter, “ People just don’t feel safe,” said Travis Rogers who lives near one of the hotels in Hell’s Kitchen. Joe Restuccia, a neighbor said this, “ It’s out of control and wild, people need help here, we have photos of people exposing themselves, running around on the streets naked.” It seems to be a common thread through Krauths article. Krauth begins to talk about the city officials’ involvement in solving this problem of the homeless population taking over in the hotels. There is a plan according to them, “In a long statement the city’s Department of Social Services said they don’t know when they’ll be moving people back to shelters, but that they’re providing hotels extra security and making safe decisions based on data and science.” Krauth didn’t get a straight answer on when these changes will come.
RHETORICAL ANALYSIS:
When reading Krauths article I felt that there was a clear voice of disagreement with the homeless community and the situation. I understand that since I live in Brooklyn and I see these things all the time. COVID-19 seems to be a big blame for all the missing help and the lack of care. Truth is that these things have been happening long before COVID and the hotel are a buffer between the streets and a brand new homeless shelter. When a real shelter is built, then hotels can rebuild their business and there could be a clearer direction for NYC. Although I don’t fully agree with hotels being a main source of shelter, I understand how they are a help during this time period.
The target audience seems to be young adults and adults that live in the areas. I also think that some of the people living in the hotel shelters read these papers, I would read them if I had to live there. There were some shocking facts I learned from this article like the fact that one million dollars goes into these hotel shelters everyday. I thought that seemed insane, but at the same time there are many people and staff to account for.
CONCLUSION:
Through my research, I found out about the struggles of the homeless communities that live in those hotel shelters. I also learned about why some people end up there. I learned about a few financial statistics that were unbelievable. When watching the interview of the homeless man Michael that lived in the Lucerne hotel, I experienced a shift in the way I thought and felt about the people in the hotel shelters. Instead of villainizing the people living there for doing questionable things in my neighborhood, I felt empathy and within that I had to realize that most of the people doing things like that in my neighborhood are mentally ill and need help. The person who needed to hear it first was myself, because I didn’t understand the inner part of it, the why. Next, people that should know about my research are the people who live in the neighborhoods with these hotel shelters that feel burdened by them. The hotel owners who feel like they can’t win with the city officials need to also read my research. I would also like for Mayor DeBlasio and his wife Chirlane McCay. I still have a question though, where is the funding for the mentally ill on the streets and in these shelter hotels? The Mayor’s wife needs to wake up and help the people who are mentally ill. As a New Yorker, I believe there needs to be a change because there have been the same promises for years by DeBlasio and McCay. Hope needs to be restored in these neighborhoods. I have been thinking about this paper for a while and I felt stuck when getting started, I think this is a large topic with many unknown parts. When people are re-sheltered I wonder if there will be a shift in mentality for these people who were doing well in the hotels. There are many things to consider for everyone involved and I hope that people feel more hope, less fear, and that the people who need help get it.
Bibliography:
https://abc7ny.com/amp/deadly-stabbing-homeless-shelter-hotel-midtown/10602925/
https://abc7ny.com/amp/7-on-your-side-investigates-investigation-new-york-city/10447989/
