By Rich Bockmann
More than 100 evacuees who were displaced by Superstorm Sandy nearly a year ago found themselves in a Catch-22 situation last week when those with the poorest chances of finding a permanent place to stay were dropped from the program footing their hotel-room bills.
And faced with few other options, a Howard Beach woman and a dozen or so other people chose to stay in their hotel rooms under the city’s tenants rights, which will require a date in Housing Court.
“Some returned to relatives with a support system. Some went to the city’s shelter system and others stayed in the hotel. I don’t know what they’re doing, frankly,” said Peter Gudaitis, chief response officer for New York Disaster Interfaith Services.
“Eventually, they’re going to be taken to Housing Court and they will be evicted and they’re going to be responsible for their hotel bills,” he added. “It can take six to eight weeks to evict a client. As you can imagine, that bill can be extraordinary, even at 100 bucks a night.”
Gudaitis said there were about 340 evacuees staying in hotel rooms Oct. 4 when the Federal Emergency Management Agency funds that the city was using to pay for their rooms dried up.
At the 11th hour the Red Cross made a $1 million donation to New York Disaster to cover the costs, but Gudaitis said that with limited funds the nonprofit had to decide who could reasonably land on their own feet with a helping hand, and who would need to be supported with no end in sight.
“We’re committed to households that have a viable housing solution beyond their hotel stay,” he said, adding he was confident the group could support the approximately 220 evacuees who had viable plans. “The others either had chronic challenges before the storm or are unwilling to participate in the program or have no viable recovery program. We didn’t have the resources to support them for an indefinite period of time.”
FEMA and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development are providing evacuees with rental vouchers that will pay $1,300 a month for a one-bedroom apartment for two years, but many are finding it difficult to make a deal with a landlord who will take them on.
“It’s an extremely difficult situation we’re facing,” said Anna, a Howard Beach resident who has been staying in a hotel near John F. Kennedy International Airport since soon after the storm hit last year. “[Landlords] are going to pick the cream of the crop. They’re going to go to the best candidates. It makes sense.”
Anna, who asked that her last name not be used, is one of the 101 people who suddenly found themselves on the hook for their hotel expenses last Friday.
But since her only other income consists of disability payments, she said she cannot find a landlord who will accept her voucher.
As of Tuesday evening the hotel she was staying in had not served her with notice she would be taken to court. Anna had nothing but kind words for the management and said she understood the situation she was putting them in by staying but she had to place her own priorities first.
While she worries about the consequences of running up a bill she cannot afford, Anna said she is mostly concerned about the other evacuees who left the hotel when they were cut off.
“My heart grieves for them,” she said. “They just walked out here like lambs to the slaughter.”
Reach reporter Rich Bockmann by e-mail at rbockmann@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4574.
