Homeless Shelter Residents Ask For Emergency Hearing In Effort To Avoid Being Kicked Out Of Lucerne Hotel On UWS
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Homeless shelter residents at the Lucerne on the Upper West Side are not giving up their fight to stay at the hotel.
On Sunday night, they asked for an emergency hearing to stop the city from transferring them to a hotel in the Financial District, CBS2's Hazel Sanchez reported.
MORE: Protesters Say New York City Moving Homeless Out Of Lucerne Hotel Is Creating A Bigger Problem
The shelter residents filed a request for a temporary restraining order that would prevent the city from forcing them out of the Lucerne. More than 200 homeless men living in the building were scheduled to board buses bound for a temporary shelter downtown on Monday, but sources told CBS2 the city will hold off on moving them until after a judge hears the residents' request.
Mayor Bill de Blasio ordered the homeless residents to be transferred after some people in the community complained about safety issues and hired an attorney to have the city move the men out.
They're set to be transferred to a temporary shelter in the Radisson Hotel in the Financial District.
Residents in Lower Manhattan filed their own request for a temporary restraining order to stop the city from moving the men there, but a judge denied it.
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The shelter residents say they don't want to move, either. They hired an attorney hoping they'll be able to stay at the Lucerne, where they say they've made progress in getting back
on their feet.
"The moment that they began to take off as a group -- they were doing amazingly well -- that was the moment when the city pulled the rug out from under them and literally tried to take them from where they were doing so well. And they want to stay because they are doing tremendous work. The Upper West Side has embraced these men. They have supported these men, and they feel it. They also know that they are not really welcome downtown," attorney Michael Hiller said.
A protest is planned for Monday morning outside the Lucerne.
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