NYC residents displaced by remnants of Hurricane Ida scrambling to find places to stay ahead of Tuesday hotel eviction
NEW YORK -- In 2021, remnants from Hurricane Ida flooded many homes in our area. Hundreds of people were displaced and more than a year later some remain without a place to go.
Some were still living at a downtown hotel, but were told to be out by Tuesday. CBS2 spoke to residents and the city.
Flooding and other damage caused by Ida forced nearly 400 displaced families in the five boroughs to seek emergency and long-term housing.
The city's Housing and Preservation Department -- or HPD -- says more than 310 of the 380 displaced by Ida have permanent housing. Seventy nine households received emergency housing vouchers.
For the last six months, those without somewhere to go have been living at the Millenium Hotel on Church Street.
"This is my sixth hotel," Floyd Wilson said.
But now, Wilson says he's among the remaining residents who have to be out by Tuesday.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency stopped funding in December, so the city picked up the tab for January and February to the tune of nearly $1.4 million, according to HPD, in order to give people time to find somewhere to live.
The Legal Aid Society said a video shows NYPD officers at the hotel over the weekend as some were leaving.
"The NYPD Patrol Guide says that the NYPD is not supposed to be in the business of evicting people," Legal Aid's Kathryn Kliff said. "Very intimidating and scary for the clients who are just trying to find a place to stay."
The NYPD released the following statement on why it was at the hotel:
"On Saturday, Feb. 25, 2023, the NYPD Emergency Service Unit responded to the Millenium Downtown New York hotel, located at 55 Church St., for a barricaded individual. ESU and the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development established a dialogue with this lone individual who then voluntarily complied to vacate the location without incident," the department said.
HPD says as of Monday afternoon, fewer than 40 residents remain. Of those, about 30 have permanent housing or friends and family to go stay with. The others have the option to go to a shelter.
"Yeah, right. OK, I may as well just go to Rikers Island [than] go to the shelter," Wilson said.
"It's difficult to find affordable housing in the city," Kliff said. "I think the city should extend the hotel stays until the clients can find permanent housing."
HPD says it's providing packing, transportation, storage assistance, case management, and mental health services.
"We will continue working tirelessly until all of these families have a place to call home," a HPD spokesperson said.
Wilson said he'll likely spend the night on the subway.
For those who are undocumented, HPD says there is the IDA relief fund for excluded New Yorkers.