I’m homeless and so tired of being treated like cattle

The pandemic has been hard for everyone, but the past few months have been brutal for those of us who are homeless.

I am a 59-year-old Black man currently living at the Lucerne Hotel on West 79th St. on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. I’ve been moved around several times since the pandemic started, and now I’ve heard we’ll soon be moved yet again because some neighbors of the hotel don’t want us here.

My experience during the pandemic has been marked by instability.

My journey back into the shelter system began in May, when I was placed in a shelter in Brooklyn. About a month later, I was moved to a shelter on E. 3rd St. in Lower Manhattan. After only about a week there, I was moved to the Washington Jefferson Hotel on W. 51st St. to keep us safer from the coronavirus, which can spread quickly in dorm-style shelters.

On July 3, while I was at the Washington Jefferson Hotel, my significant other passed away from a stroke — only three days after my birthday. It was very hard.

A week or two later, I found out I was relocating again, to the Lucerne. That’s when things got even worse.

From day one, my fellow shelter residents and I saw that we were not welcome in the community. My impression is that this is a rich, mostly white neighborhood, and it seemed like many people here thought that having a bunch of Black and Hispanic people arrive from poorer parts of New York City disrupted their way of living.

This tension is not new: It’s always rich against the poor. However, during the month or so that I have been here, there have been overblown, distorted news reports blaming shelter residents for a range of problems in the neighborhood.

Now the Guardian Angels are patrolling the streets, and there is 24/7 police presence in the neighborhood. The community treats us like we are criminals, and the city has given in to their demands to move us out.

I really do not want any problems. I had previously spent more than two decades in prison, but I was released three years ago and have been trying to find some stability.

Returning from prison has been a challenge. Being judged and scorned by the neighbors of the Lucerne, and being moved again to appease them, is one additional stress. It has felt like anything can happen under these circumstances, and I could be accused of something I did not do.

I am afraid that when people make sweeping assumptions about homeless people, these kinds of accusations will increase. This could have serious consequences for people like me who are on parole and just trying to stay out of trouble.

The Department of Homeless Services moved us from shelters into hotels to keep us safe from COVID-19. I know the risks of the virus firsthand. A few weeks ago, I tested positive for COVID-19 even though I had no symptoms. I was sent to a specific isolation hotel, and then when it was safe, I returned to the Lucerne.

If I had been in a dorm-style shelter instead, I might have unknowingly spread the virus to other people.

Now, I have been approved for an apartment, and I am just waiting to view it so I can finally move in. I cannot wait to leave the shelter system. I’m getting tired of being shifted around like I’m cattle.

Being homeless during a pandemic is hard enough — but being unwelcome, and looked down on, makes it even worse.