There’s No Eviction Moratorium on NYC Storage Units. Now the Contents of Hundreds are Being Auctioned Off Posted on October 29, 2020 by Elizabeth Lepro New Yorkers’ belongings stowed away in hundreds of self-storage units are slated to be auctioned off in the coming weeks, with struggling customers left unprotected, even during the pandemic. People in dire financial straits and unable to pay their storage bill face an unregulated form of eviction that can lead to the loss of everything from furniture to family heirlooms snapped up by strangers. Meanwhile, the billion-dollar industry is booming as New Yorkers in flux seek places to keep their possessions, movers say.
NYC will install Wi-Fi in homeless shelters following Daily News report on students’ internet issues Posted on October 29, 2020 by Elizabeth Lepro The city plans to install Wi-Fi in city-run homeless shelters after the Daily News highlighted issues homeless students are having accessing the internet to attend their remote learning classes. Mayor de Blasio made the announcement Monday, following a News front page story that detailed threats from school administrators and truancy officers some students have received after they missed classes due to internet connectivity issues. “The instruction I have given to the Law Department and to Social Services is to ensure that every shelter gets Wi-Fi, to send teams out to literally go shelter by shelter and simply ensure not just for that student, but for the whole shelter, Wi-Fi is in place. We’ve got to stop this and make sure everyone has what they need,” de Blasio said at a press conference Monday.
City ‘Failing’ to Protect Homeless in Shelters and Hotels During Pandemic, Lawsuit Demanding Solo Rooms Alleges Posted on October 23, 2020 by Elizabeth Lepro Homeless men and women were left to languish in packed hotel rooms and shelters as COVID-19 raged in New York City, putting them at heightened risk of serious illness, a new lawsuit demanding relief charges. The suit, filed late Thursday by the Legal Aid Society and the law firm Jenner & Block, calls on the city to provide single-occupancy hotel rooms to “every single adult homeless New Yorker until public health authorities determine it is safe to return to congregate settings.” The homeless men and women claim in their complaint that jamming as many as 11 people in a shelter bedroom put them at increased risk of infection.
