Katrina Victims Cut Deal

Katrina evacuees staying at the Radisson Hotel near JFK Airport agreed to a settlement with the hotel on Tuesday, April 4, allowing the nine families still at the hotel to stay for up to 45 days longer or giving them monetary compensation if they leave within the next 30 days.
The two sides negotiated the settlement, which will pay the nine families $2,500 to move out this week, $2,000 to move out next week, and $1,000 to leave within the next 30 days, but give the families the option to stay there for up to 45 days and receive no money.
The negotiations took place at the Queens Civil Courthouse in Jamaica, right before a hearing on the suit filed by the Radisson to evict the Katrina victims and make them pay $5,000 for each family.
“I was willing to talk,” said Ashwani Prabhakar, 28, an attorney for the Legal Aid Society, who represented seven of the nine families. The seven families were staying in only six rooms at the Radisson. “We came to a resolution that I think my clients were very happy with.”
After nearly four hours of negotiations, Prabhakar and his clients met in a conference room at the courthouse and agreed to sign the settlement. Prabhakar said that his main goal was to ensure that his clients had enough time to make the final arrangements of where they were going to move and secure the necessary federal funds they are entitled to receive.
“I thought the Radisson was being very unreasonable,” Prabhakar said. “[Evicting them] wasn’t the humane thing to do.”
Prabhakar said that he expects some families to begin moving out this week and others should follow shortly.
“I am hoping that this agreement will work out for everyone without any problems,” he said.
As of press time repeated calls to the Radisson were not returned.