During the 16 months of the pandemic, it was New York City Accommodation of thousands of homeless people in hotel rooms to protect them from the coronavirus.

Now with most of the state vaccinatedWith the lifting of restrictions and an economic recovery on the way, the city is delighted to fill these hotel rooms with tourists.

And so, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on Wednesday that by the end of July about 8,000 people would be moving from about 60 hotels and back to barrack-like group accommodations.

“It is time to move homeless people who have been temporarily in hotels back to shelters where they can get the support they need,” said Mr de Blasio at a morning press conference.

The mayor said the city would need state approval, but a spokesman for Governor Andrew M. Cuomo said that as long as all residents of the shelter – including those who have been vaccinated – wear masks, nothing stands in the way of the plan.

“The governor has lifted social distancing restrictions, so now all people need to do is follow CDC guidelines on masks,” said spokesman Rich Azzopardi.

The city didn’t immediately answer questions about when it would start moving people back to shelters.

The hotels, many of which are located in densely populated parts of Manhattan, have been a source of friction with their neighbors, who have complained of noise, outdoor drug use, and other nuisances and dangers from hotel guests. The city’s decision to move nearly 300 people from a shelter on an island off Manhattan to the alfalfa on the Upper West Side sparked a month-long battle.

Wednesday’s announcement signaled the end of a social experiment that many homeless people gave high marks, saying a private hotel room was a far better experience than sleeping in a room with up to 20 other adults, many with mental illnesses or fight drugs abuse or both. Some people said they would rather live on the street than return to group accommodation.

“I don’t want to go back – it’s like going back,” said Andrew Ward, 39, who stayed in a nearby men’s home at the Williams Hotel in Brownsville, Brooklyn, Wednesday afternoon. “It is not safe to go back there. You have people who bring knives. “

He said his things had been stolen countless times.

At the hotel he said, “It’s peaceful. It’s less stressful. “He said that if he were brought back to group accommodation,” I would just stay on the street as before. “