De Blasio to UWS: "Drop Dead"

I thought this thread would refer to his school plan.

https://www.westsiderag.com/2020/07/27/locals-express-frustration-and-confront-councilmember-as-hotel-becomes-homeless-shelter#comment-426418

It could be worse - DC turned a hotel in our neighborhood into the Covid treatment center for the homeless. Definitely brought out the NIMBY in many of our otherwise progressive neighbors.

The complainers don't seem to have been capable of electing, managing, and paying for a government that can humanely address the problem of drug addiction and homelessness. Instead, through their own omission or commission they have endorsed the continued shell games of the local and state administrations, and now are shocked, shocked, that they find the pea is is in their neighborhood. I'm finding it hard to feel sorry for them.

Unfortunately, I have found that people's political views suddenly seem to change when they have to actually bear the costs of the policies that they advocate.

Not sure if Manhattan prime residents have enough votes not to elect people like De Blasio. Also AOC getting re-elected despite being an impediment to job creation in her district clearly speaks to her voters in her district having socialist leanings. That is democracy.

Yes. And there are likely a number of moderate voters who will no longer be in NYC in a year.

But whether or not they stay, many voters will still be property owners, and will be moved as much by the declining value of their primary asset as their woke sensibilities.

The prospect of a progressive downward spiral is really unsettling.

I think (perhaps hope) we have reached the bottom in progressive downward spiraling. Margret Sanger got cancelled.

And De Blasio did remove the city hall encampment.

Out of fear that Trump would step in.

Stache, You looking to trigger people?

Which people?

The sort of mindless liberals that we need to stay in the chaotic city and pay the tax hikes required to pay for Hizzoner's idiocy.

That would be me! We are seeing an increased presence of the homeless around our building in SF, NY and now even our house in DC. How do I feel about this? People need to see the effects of the current trajectory on the doorstep before they do something about it. All those who just want to ignore it should go to those other parts of the country where they don’t have to see it. They can shut themselves into their McMansions and work remotely. Their only challenge will be socializing their children in these locales where political correctness is mocked. I suggest everyone of this mindset choose a community where everyone looks like them if possible because much of the country is not terribly open to “other.” Caucasians should not have a problem in this regard, but Asians, Indians and those whose ancestors hailed from the Middle East might find their dreams of freedom from the tyranny of progressive cities are not all they are cracked up to be.

Bye George! Bye 300_Mercer! Enjoy Nowhere, USA. Oh wait, you’re still here . . ..

MCR,
It's going to be easier now that Fair Housing guidelines have been rolled back.

https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/trump-hud-fair-housing-act

I am a little puzzled by the picture that is being painted about these hotels on the Upper West Side. I’ve passed by and spent time in the immediate areas of the Belleclaire, Belnord and Lucerne Hotels, and other then seeing people in disheveled clothing smoking in front of these buildings, haven’t observed much of a change in character in the area nor have I felt unsafe or seen any crime.

These news stories are painting pictures of syringes and garbage littered in the streets around these three hotels, and I’m simply not seeing it. It doesn’t seem to be as dramatic or immediate a change in the neighborhood that would inspire me to immediately uproot my family from the neighborhood and flee, as in that NYPost story run a few days ago about UWS moms.

What am I missing?

I live on the UWS further north than that. There have been more homeless on the streets since the spring -- I think it's a combination of the Pandemic (the feeling that the streets are safer from the virus than shelters are) and a lower level of policing. (First because the cops were sick, and then because the cops in my view have withdrawn a little in response to the protests). The last time I went to Zabar's was probably about a week ago. I definitely felt like more people were asking me for money, but IA with you that it was no Panic in Needle Park.

ali r.

Fair housing act was in name only. The Obama administration used the questionable doctrine of disparate impact in enforcement. You had situations were a local community had a waiting list for section 8 housing with a preference for residents of that community but because the applicants were white, they were turned down. Out of area residents were added to the list and jumped the line because they were the racial preference dictated by disparate impact statistics. Repeal of the act was long overdue because it was mis used. Local communities should clearly force fairness in housing with no racial discrimination. But disparate impact turned the Fair housing Act into federal racial rebalancing. The concept on the left seems to be...the more we discriminate based on race/ethnicity, the faster we will end discrimination . Bizarre logic at best

https://nypost.com/2020/08/11/a-mad-rush-for-the-exits-as-new-york-city-goes-down-the-tubes/

Also long time UWS resident. Also investigated. Also no plan to move. Also agree it's not the end of the world at all. However, I think it's not a bad time to galvanize the community in terms of actually finding grassroots solutions to sustainably solve urban issues for the long haul.

There is *definitely* pricing drop as I still check streeteasy regularly in the working affluent price range (1.5-2.5M 2-3 bed), somewhere between 10-15% from the peak. There's a lot of panic right now, and I anticipate further drop in the immediate future due primarily to psychological reasons and people putting things on the market when they are not living here.

The actual QOL except for late nights I think improved due to lots more street dining, IMO. I was in the suburbs recently and it's just ... not tolerable... not walkable, very few eateries and shops, no street scene, town closed down at 6PM, etc.

Any thoughts from other non-crazy UWS residents? Front_porch?

Another longtime UWS resident, though currently just south in a rental after selling pre-COVID. I walk through Columbus Circle every day on my to the park to walk dog. The homeless situation in CC has been cleared out. (It had been growing in front of the closed FedEx store.) Two people tried to come back and now they are gone again. There are also fewer homeless in the park and along CPW between CC and 72nd Street than there were in the months leading up to the shutdown. Traffic is picking up, outdoor dining is growing, streets and corners are clean, and it's actually really nice--heat and humidity notwithstanding.

I’m a new UWS resident of a few weeks (and big thanks to Keith for representing on the purchase, highly recommend him and his team they were great). Also finding the doom and gloom narrative from the nypost around the UWS right now laughable. It just doesn’t match reality. I’m in the west 70s and there is plenty of life with outdoor dining on Columbus/Amsterdam and pretty much all shops open. The additional homeless population is pretty much confined to a few medians on broadway, has zero impact on QOL. You can dine at Nice Matin with no worries either, there is constant security right outside the Lucerne.

I moved from the east village where encampments and homeless presence was constantly significantly higher for years than it is currently on the UWS.

While I am not on UWS, I can say that QOL in Village/Chelsea/Nomad has improved greatly with outdoor dining. Boarded up scene is long gone.

Hard for me to say if there are more homeless people. It certainly seemed like it in March/April but I think that was because everybody else was inside, so they were just more obvious. I haven't sensed an uptick since then, although the people who are always out asking for change from drivers at certain intersections are fairly new.

I think the nadir downtown was late May / early June during the protests/riots. It was depressing to see nothing but plywood. Some of the plywood is still there, and a lot of places are still closed. I'm pleasantly surprised by how well outdoor dining has been working, but winter is coming...

Flarf, Early June was indeed the worst time downtown for around a week but most of the plywood is gone. Retail vacancies are high but that is to be expected with no tourists, fewer office workers and damages/loss of business small businesses suffered.

flarf, I just read that the city is looking at continuing outdoor dining in the winter with blankets and the out door heaters.

On a separate note, I think that yes, plenty of people are leaving. But there are plenty of others who are hoping for finally being able to get a bigger/better apartment or an apartment at all after being priced out for so long. Especially with these crazy low mortgage rates.

I am with those who do not think NYC will go down the drain b/c I believe humans have gravitated towards density since the beginning of time and have short memories when it comes to unfortunate circumstances that might warn us away from that density. Yes, some will leave for good based on timing - many (but certainly not all) families like to put down roots in a community, and their window for doing that is largely dependent on school-entry ages. Any such family that doesn’t feel comfortable in NY will understandably relocate. However, I believe others will happily come in to take their place, and NY will remain NY. Nobody knows, but that is what I “feel.” I understand why others might “feel” a different future for NY and again, those folks will just move along, and hopefully in 10 years we will all be happy with the choices we have made per our individual needs and preference structures.

NYRR can donate the 60k foil wraps that would otherwise have been handed out at the finish line of marathon. All that crinkling will drown out the noise of teeth chattering.

I am optimistic that if Republicans campaign on law and order and show a few video ads of issues currently facing NY, Chicago, Seattle and Portland etc, Democratic mayors and Governors will try to control the damage to the image. I remember Cuomo mentioning displace De Blasio and I saw visible improvement in law enforcement. I think people should be reaching out to Cuomo’s office via appropriate means as he has shown more concern for NYC that De Blasio.

Yet instead, Republicans are campaigning on xenophobia. I bet latest birther nonsense DJT is trying to stir up against Kamala Harris is hitting home for some of those who previously could not understand the claims of racisim. Between Trump and Tucker Carlson (check out story where he “innocently” mispronounced her name), immigrants and first gen American citizens from India who just can’t understand why anyone would accuse Republican party of bigotry are about to get an onslaught of talk tracks that will open their eyes.

Some historical context re FHA for those who might have not done very well (or never even studied) U.S. history: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/13/opinion/trump-suburbs-racism.html?searchResultPosition=1

Meanwhile, in DC, we are renaming the fountain down the street, which was originally named for the founder of Chevy Chase, an unabashed "Whites Only" proponent - indeed, it was a covenant that ran with the land in Chevy Chase such that when one set of my grandparents bought their house there, it was still in effect. This is a source of shame for me as well as many other members of my family. Sadly not so for all, and certainly not for some who live there to this day and would be just fine with that covenant being reinstated.

The re naming and statue demolition generation. More then useless. I grew up dirt poor in the projects in lower Manhattan. Fairly diverse, we even had some white kids. but mostly Hispanic/Black some Asians. What we cared about was safe streets/safe housing. Summer job programs and decent teachers at school. No one gave a hoot about names and statues. They never made an impact.

Read up on how Obama actually applied fair housing...i,e government using questionable disparate impact statistics and studies to re engineer racial profiles of neighborhoods. If government telling you where you can live and not live isnt scary, I dont know what is. But yes, lets fix the horrid problems of the past by using race and ethnicity to discriminate against another generation of Americans . This time by the iron fist of the government and see how it turns out.

Kudos to the Trump Justice department for pointing out Yale's use of quota's to keep too many Asians from entering their hallowed halls. I hope one day we will get better and actually live in a world where no one/gov will discriminate against anyone based on race /ethnicity/gender. Until then, I certainly do not want the US government to be in that business. The bizarre notion that more discrimination will make it all better makes absolutely no sense. History tells us discrimination is wrong, have we learned nothing ? If you fail to learn from history, what good is it ?

Some more about UWS
https://www.westsiderag.com/2020/08/17/mayor-says-city-will-immediately-start-work-on-moving-homeless-people-out-of-hotels-though-timeline-is-murky

@knewbie - My money is against Trump’s DOJ succeeding in the Yale lawsuit. Has it occurred to you that they know they are going to lose and just filed as a pre-election ploy to appeal to you? I respect your owning your position and casting your vote accordingly. That is what democracy is all about. Just be careful what you wish for. If you read up on Newlands (guy who founded Chevy Chase), he openly lobbied for repeal of the 15th Amendment. You might want to read up on the various Trump appointees who pride themselves on their membership in the Chevy Chase Club, but you go ahead and continue believing that the Trump administration cares about making the country better for you; zero chance you are being duped.

knewbie>> But yes, lets fix the horrid problems of the past by using race and ethnicity to discriminate against another generation of Americans .

Yes, thankfully it's all in the past.

Paul Ryan, the top-ranking Republican in federal office, on June 7, 2016 regarding Trump's comments on Judge Curiel: "I disavow those comments. I regret those comments that he made. I don't think claiming a person can't do their job because of their race is sort of like the textbook definition of a racist comment. I think that should absolutely be disavowed. It is absolutely unacceptable. But do I believe that Hillary Clinton is the answer? No, I do not. Do I believe that Hillary Clinton is gonna be the answer to solving these problems? I do not. I believe that we have more common ground on the policy issues of the day, and we have more likelihood of getting our policies enacted with him than with we do with her. But I do absolutely disavow those comments. I think they're wrong. I don't think they're right-headed and the thinking behind it is something I don't even personally relate to. But at the end of the day this is about ideas, this is about moving our agenda forward."

Nov 8, 2016: 63M Americans vote for Trump, including 3M New Yorkers.

Well, that didn;t last long

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/08/nyregion/nyc-homeless-hotels-covid.html

A real humiliation for De Blasio, who handled this with utter incompetence. Imagine what the outcome would have been if he had let people know well in advance and assured them of round-the-clock security, and that it would only last a few months.

Counting the seconds until he's gone.

I sw the news that the city will remove the homeles from the uw hotels. very positive development. the homeless weren't being helped and a neighborhood was getting destroyed. a lose lose if ever there was one. I joined temporarily the facebook group that opposed it. I was deeply disappointed. Very disorganized and many of the members were bringing QAnon , anti-vax and pro-Trump agendas to the the group and not staying focused on the core issue, homeless being housed in the hotels

isn't it nice that so many of us can disagree on Republican vs Democrat issues but we unite around the idea that De-Blasio is incompetent

@Riversider - yes!

This is for you Riversider: https://twitter.com/AlxThomp/status/1303797862510329867

Riversider, what does Qanon do with homeless?

There isn't a single person I know who has respect for De Blasio or thinks he's competent.

That seems to be a near universal viewpoint:
https://nypost.com/2020/09/10/new-york-ceos-demand-mayor-de-blasio-to-fix-citys-plague-of-crime/

It would be a dramatic improvement if Cuomo would seize governance of the city. Not perfect, but an improvement.

So now there is talk about delaying the Lucerne move, and further, establishing a permanent shelter on the UWS.

Any idea what location is being contemplated for that permanent shelter? The Dakota?

Not 5th any more?

https://www.westsiderag.com/2020/09/28/lucerne-residents-are-supposed-to-move-downtown-but-residents-there-are-starting-to-push-back-too

The 5th as of today. But lots of pressure to push that off, with even Linda Rosenthal in the fray. They are all trying to outwoke each other, so I wouldn't be surprised if De Blasio balked yet again.