The Mayor’s decision came after weeks of racist messaging from groups like the West Side Community Organization (WSCO) who have criminalized hotel residents and filmed and harassed them via patrols by the Guardian Angels (a group with ties to right-wing shock jock Curtis Sliwa). The local police precinct has openly partnered with WSCO—which is represented by former Guiliani official Randy Mastro—describing the group's work as “winning back the UWS.”

Da Homeless Hero, a current resident of the Lucerne Hotel, writes: “I beg of you to fight and fight hard for us. We are not humans in the eyes of so many. As a Black man, the descendent of slaves, there is the inner connection to the ancestors that allows me to understand from my current experience what it’s like to be looked at as less than human...I feel traumatized at being dehumanized, moved around like pawns on chessboard.”

Just two days after the march and after months of public pressure, the city announced it will put a pause on plans to displace people from COVID-safe housing at the Lucerne. This delay is a testament to the powerful organizing led by New Yorkers experiencing homelessness and our partners at VOCAL-NY, Picture the Homeless, and the UWS Open Hearts Initiative. But it is still not enough.