Back at ya.
‘Our community is terrified, angry and frightened’ Upper West Side residents fury as homeless junkies and sex offenders are moved into three luxury hotels and turn the area into a spectacle of public urination, cat-calling and brazen drug use
The Belleclaire, the Lucerne and the Belnord in the UWS are three of 139 hotels being used as homeless shelters during the Covid-19 crisis in New York City
The city is paying $175 per person per night to house people to avoid COVID-19 outbreaks in shelters
It’s unclear how long they will be kept there; none of the hotels are accepting paying guests currently
Upper West Side residents say they are terrorizing the neighborhood with drugs and crime
They are complaining that they don’t feel safe and local restaurant owners fear they are driving away business
The only way for restaurants to make money is by offering outdoor dining but the owners say the homeless are approaching diners to ask for cash
It coincides with a mass exodus of wealthy New Yorkers, many of whom will never come back to the city
Mayor Bill de Blasio has turned on them, calling them ‘fair weather friends’ who ought to be taxed higher
Governor Andrew Cuomo is begging them to come back and says the city desperately needs their money
By CHRIS JEWERS FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 04:55 EDT, 7 August 2020 | UPDATED: 12:47 EDT, 7 August 2020