Let us stay here!
Homeless appeal ruling booting them from hotel
Three men who were among the more than 200 forced to move out of an Upper West Side hotel-turned-homeless shelter are appealing a judge’s decision to relocate them downtown.
Ramone Buford, Larry Thomas and Travis Trammell — all placed at the Lucerne hotel on W. 79th St. at the beginning of the pandemic — on Wednesday appealed a Nov. 25 decision by Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Debra James allowing a swift relocation to the downtown Radisson hotel.
Buford, Thomas and Trammell joined a lawsuit filed by a coalition of lower Manhattan residents and business owners, named Downtown New Yorkers Inc., which aimed to halt the men’s relocation to the Financial District.
The city has since moved two of the three into permanent housing.
More than 240 homeless men were placed at the Lucerne in the early days of the pandemic to curb COVID-19 s spread among the city’s vulnerable homeless
population. Many were provided with local jobs through programs at the local Goddard Riverside Community Center, and wanted to stay at the Lucerne and in a neighborhood that they say felt like home.
Buford, Thomas and Trammell, on behalf of fellow residents at the Lucerne, are asking the Appellate Division, 1st Department, to rescind James’ ruling, which cleared the way for the city Department of Homeless Services to immediately begin the massive relocation, court filings show.
The city had said it planned to start transferring residents to the Radisson — which will be converted into a permanent shelter — after Thanksgiving in “an orderly phase out.”
“This move is the right thing to do for these residents and we are confident the appellate court will allow it to proceed,” a spokesman for the city Law Department said in response to Wednesday’s appeal.
Downtown New Yorkers, Inc. has also filed an appeal with the Appellate Division, 1st Department.