After a seven-alarm fire ravaged buildings on Grand Street in Chinatown, killing one and injuring dozens, the hundreds left homeless are struggling now that they have been cast out of their apartments. And some have now been relocated far from the Lower East Side—the Daily News reports, "More than 100 people were whisked from the Skyline Hotel on 49th St. to hotels in Harlem and one near LaGuardia Airport, drawing outrage from the newly homeless."
One woman moved to the Holiday Inn near LaGuardia said, "This is too far from Chinatown... Now it's going to be forever to get to the subway station. ... We just want a shelter or a house where we can stay and not keep moving." Another man said, "My children go to school in Manhattan, so every day it will take one hour longer at least."
Anne-Marie Hendrickson, deputy commissioner of the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, says the city is trying to move them closer to the homes, "We want to get them back close to their home community for schools and things like that." Fire officials do not believe the fire was intentional and suspect the cause could have been an electrical issue. The buildings at 283 and 285-285 Grand Street will be torn down.
