New York Metropolis Strikes Homeless Out of Motels as Covid-19 Charges Fall

New York City began moving around 8,500 homeless people from hotels and back to its traditional collective housing system last month.

To curb the spread of Covid-19 in spring 2020, the city has Thousands of homeless people are housed in more than 60 privately run hotels that their bookings had gone cold because of the pandemic. The hotels scattered across the city were converted into emergency shelters, but offered more privacy and protection from the virus than standard barrack-style accommodations.

New Yorkers living in homeless shelters were more likely to die of Covid-19 than the rest of the city, according to a June 2020 analysis by the Coalition for the Homeless advocacy group.

However, with the state recently lifted most of the social distancing restrictions in response to declining Covid-19 infection rates, New York City is trying to fill hotel rooms with tourists again in an effort to fuel a flagging economy.