De Blasio reveals he wants to buy empty NYC buildings and turn them into affordable housing after moving 13,000 homeless into hotels 'for more than $2million a night' and shaming rich residents who left to escape COVID-19 as 'fair weather friends'

Daily Mail (UK) ^ | 8 August 2020 | JENNIFER SMITH

[Mount Athos]

Mayor Bill de Blasio on Friday revealed a plan to buy properties around the city and turn them into permanent affordable housing, after moving more than 10,000 homeless people into hotels during the COVID-19 pandemic and shaming rich residents who have left the city as 'fair weather friends'.

The homeless-in-hotels scheme set up by de Blasio is one of many components to an escalating downward change in the city.

Many of New York's wealthy residents fled months ago - taking their disposable income and their tax dollars with them - and there are fears they may never come back.

Crime is on the up but de Blasio has stripped the police force of $1billion in response to Black Lives Matter protests.

Some retailers and restaurants have been forced to close permanently and those who are hanging on face continuously changing and difficult rules.

Earlier this year, it emerged that 139 struggling hotels are taking in homeless people to avoid deathly COVID-19 breakouts in shelters.

Through the program, they take $175 per person, per night which - with more than 13,000 homeless currently being housed in hotels - is more than $2.275million, according to anonymous city sources who have been quoted since May.

'Our community is terrified, angry and frightened,' one organizer of the 1,700 member group, Dr. Megan Martin, told The Post.

Local parents are particularly concerned with the ten registered sex offenders that have been accommodated in the Belleclaire as of Thursday, according to the state sex offender registry.

Local residents have reported seeing fights, have been verbally abused or harassed, seen people spitting - despite the ongoing pandemic - and have also seen people looking for, or using drugs.

[11th_VA]

What could go wrong ?

[Spok]

Has it occurred to this fool that there is only so much money in the world, especially when he’s chasing all of the taxpayers out of NYC?

[ronnie raygun]

He is mentally unfit and should be recalled period

[mountainlion]

Fair weather friends?? Mayors are supposed to do the will of the people.

[wny]

I think term limits prevents this idiot from running again. If he could run, he’d probably win.

[gr8eman]

WoW! This is unprecedented! Wannabe commies getting what they always wanted and getting it hard! Wonder how many pissed off residents are the ones who are still pissed off that the Rosenbergs were executed!

[srmanuel]

What could possibly go wrong...with this plan..

[butlerweave]

Most of the Homeless should be in Mental Institutions not Hotels

[frank ballenger]

Brochure:
And your penthouse address will be between the new John Lewis Project for Low Income African Americans and the socially conscious rent free New Recovery high rise, catering to unfortunate chemically dependent people on full public assistance.

While your accommodations include the ultimate in luxury and prestige, your choice of neighbors shows you care-—and care deeply-—about the less fortunate in our city.

Armed guard security included at higher charge.

[HangnJudge]

Words fail me...
Massive urban renewal coming to NYC in 3.2.1...

[smvoice]

Nightmare on the Hudson

[EinNYC]

$175 a night for hotel rooms for bums? What's wrong with using the many closed hospitals, closed because they went bankrupt having to take illegals into their ER for family doctor level illnesses? NYC has yet ANOTHER absurd law saying that the city MUST provide housing for homeless. The stupidest part of this law is that it does not specify the recipient have been a resident of NYC for any minimum length of time, like 2 years. So you have every bum in the eastern half of the U.S., plus s-hole countries making their way to the Rotten Apple to sponge off the NYC taxpayers for housing. And while they're at it, for welfare, food stamps, free education next to your kid in schools, free legal aid, and free medical care--which is what's bankrupting small hospitals all over. I'm sorry, but why should NYC taxpayers have to pay for housing for every bum, who's a bum mostly due to their own fault--taking drugs, not applying themselves in school to enable themselves to get a job, having out of wedlock kids, etc.? There are those who have mental problems not their fault, elderly people who don't have enough money to live on, legitimately disabled people who cannot work, but most of these people are homeless due to their own fault.

[amnestynone]

Since wealthy libs in New York city vote Democrat and run the media and a host of other left wing institutions I think they are just getting what they deserve. This is just the socialism that they vote for and support. Serves them right!

[Lockbox]

were is he going to get the money to buy buildings? I thought NYC was broke...

[Presbyterian Reporter]

About 50 years ago the states started closing their mental hospitals and started the process of moving mentally ill people to halfway houses and other local shelters.

So now that we have had fifty years of data I believe it is safe to conclude that the experiment did not work.

Now we are left with mentally ill people wandering the streets with many of them having drug and alcohol addictions.

I do not have a solution, but moving them into hotels just because FEMA or CARES Act money pays the bill does not seem that it will solve the problem..

[vigilante2]

He never cared about the homeless before so what happened?

[Regulator]

He’s not gonna buy anything, he’ll just confiscate it.

Same thing the Communists did in every place they took over.

Then he’ll have the same problems they did: people who can’t produce anything living in crap for free, nothing will work, no heat, no water, no power...just a bunch of rodents hiding in the dark.

They burned down Queens in the ‘70s for the same reason. It came back somewhat, but will be right back down again with shakedown guy in charge.

[MinorityRepublican]

I think term limits prevents this idiot from running again. If he could run, he’d probably win.

When did he become Mayor?

[Seruzawa]

In a class of people known for their arrogance and stupidity ol’ Bill stands head and shoulders above the rest.