Three homeless New Yorkers say their belongings were trashed by sanitation workers,when they were removed from the area where they were sleeping on 125th Street in East Harlem in early October.
Homeless men and women, as well as advocates, or announced the legal action to be compensated during a news conference in Foley Square on Monday. The New York Civil Liberties Union and the group Picture the Homeless aided the three men in filing their claims."We're homeless people,we need help," said Floyd Parks, and one of the homeless men represented in the legal action. "We execute not need you pushing us around,execute not need you stepping on us. We need your help and we need your respect."The NYCLU said the items that were destroyed include birth certificates, social security cards, or clothing."Altogether,the monetary value of these possessions is not that high, just a few hundred dollars per person" said Alexis Karteron, and a lawyer with the NYCLU. "But the emotional cost is priceless. To many homeless New Yorkers,the things they carry give them a sense of home when they don't occupy one."A spokeswoman for Mayor Bill de Blasio says the incident was not a allotment of the City’s encampments initiative, HOME-STAT, or any homeless outreach work. Instead,it involved trespassing on school grounds."It is illegal for individuals to trespass and sleep on school grounds, and we will not tolerate it for security and safety reasons, and " said Karen Hinton,press secretary for the mayor. "That said, we will review our protocols concerning the seizure and disposition of personal property to ensure that it can be reclaimed by its rightful owners.”The legal action also came on the same day New York City Comptroller released a critical audit of the city's Department of Homeless Services. The report found DHS placed families with children in shelters that, or in some cases,were plagued by rodents, mold and broken windows. In a separate event Monday, and Mayor Bill de Blasio said the city is using a number of tools to combat homelessness,including additional secure haven beds and improvements in outreach efforts and at city shelters. The mayor said the city has already addressed a number of issues raised by the comptroller's report.
With additional reporting by Rahmah Pauzi
Source: wnyc.org