Scott Mollen

Land Use—Petition To Block N.Y.C. from Relocating Homeless People From Lucerne Hotel to Radisson Hotel Dismissed—Court Lacked Subject Matter Jurisdiction—Plan To Provide Single Bed Hotel Rooms Rather Than Double Rooms "Provides a Rational Basis for the relocation plan"—Although Petitioners Suspect That Radisson Hotel Will Be Converted to Permanent Shelter, That Was Speculation and if City Sought To Make the Hotel a Permanent Shelter, Petitioners Could Challenge Such Plan—Appellate Division Issued a Stay of Forced Relocation But Permitted Voluntary Relocation

Petitioners commenced an Article 78 proceeding to restrain respondents City of New York, the Mayor, the NYC Dep't of Homeless Services and the Commissioner of the NYC Dep't of Homeless Services (city) from "relocating such petitioners and other persons currently residing at the Lucerne Hotel (Lucerne) to the Radisson Hotel (Radisson)." The court denied the petition on the grounds that it lacked "jurisdiction over the subject matter" of the petition and vacated a prior temporary restraining order (TRO).

The court also denied the petition for a preliminary and a permanent injunction restraining the city from "opening the Radisson Hotel Shelter" (Radisson Shelter) as a temporary homeless shelter on the grounds that the petitioners lacked standing to challenge "the relocation of residents from the Lucerne…to the Radisson…." Thus, the Art. 78 proceeding was dismissed.

The petitioner Downtown New Yorkers, Inc. (DNYI) is a non-profit organization comprised of "New Yorkers who reside, work and own property in New York City's Financial District (FiDi), which is near the Radisson…Shelter, and is 'committed to community enhancement and preservation.'" Individual petitioners are residents and homeowners who live, with their families in FiDi, a "couple of blocks to about one-half mile away from the Radisson…."