As part of the city’s much-criticized coronavirus response, New York City officials reportedly placed at least six homeless pedophiles who are on parole at a luxury Manhattan hotel only one block from an elementary-school playground in potential violation of state law.
Six convicted pedophiles are listed on the state Sex Offender Registry as current residents of the Belleclaire hotel, which sits under 1,000 feet from Public School 87, The New York Post reported last week.
“New York state law bars such high-risk sex offenders on probation or parole from ‘knowingly entering into or upon’ schools or other facilities or other facilities ‘primarily used by children if a minor is present. Courts have interpreted that to mean they must keep 1,000 feet away,” the outlet notes.
A representative for the city told the Post that the listings are inaccurate and the “names you reference are not at that location.” The rep would not comment as to whether the men had ever resided at the hotel. A representative for the Sex Offender Registry, however, stated that the list contains the registry’s most current information.
One of the pedophiles allegedly moved into the hotel was convicted of physically overpowering and having sex with a 4-year-old girl; one was convicted in 2010 for using threats to force intercourse on a 6-year-old boy; one used threats to rape a 10-year-old girl; one repeatedly sexually molested a child who was under the age of 11; one was convicted in 2013 of rape for repeatedly using physical force to overpower and have intercourse with a 16-year-old girl, and one was convicted in 2015 of forcibly sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl.
In April, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that the city would house 6,000 homeless people in hotels, saying where it was clear “that social distancing cannot be achieved properly, some of those clients will be moved to hotels. We will use those hotels aggressively as a tool, in addition to the homeless shelters, to make sure those who need to be isolated are isolated.”
As Gothamist.com noted, “As part of an effort to let residents better socially distance, some 10,000 people were moved out of crowded shelters into 63 hotels across the city … Isaac McGinn, a spokesman for the Department of Homeless Services, said three Upper West Side hotels have been housing the homeless since May: The Belleclaire, the Park West, and the Belnord. A fourth hotel, the Lucerne on 79th Street, opened on July 27, for a total of around 730 people around the four locations.”
A group created on July 28, 2020, called “Upper West Siders for Safer Streets” wrote on its Facebook website, “500+ single homeless men including MICAH (mentally ill chemical abusers), registered sex offenders have been moved to 3 hotels in the neighborhood close to schools and playgrounds without any community vote or notice! If you are for this then please do not join this group but if you want to help take action then please join … We are for homeless assistance & compassion but we are against registered sex offenders and drug use in our community. Homeless or not. IT IS TIME THE NEIGHBORHOOD HAS A VOICE AND A VOTE!”