City wasting Hurricane Sandy FEMA Cash On Roach-Infested Hotels And Single Room Occupancies

As of Friday, 800 Sandy households were still living in 50 hotels and SROs in the city. The Mayor’s Office of Recovery has refused to release the complete list, but a spot-check investigation by The News found five that were full of safety and health issues.
Cast adrift by Hurricane Sandy, dozens of storm victims have been placed by the city in squalid SROs and fleabag hotels plagued by vermin, housing code violations and fire safety problems, a Daily News investigation has found.

As of Friday, there were 800 Sandy households still living in 50 hotels and SROs around town. The Mayor’s Office of Recovery refused to release the full list, but a spot check by The News found five full of safety and health issues.

“In the beginning, it was kind of shocking,” said a stoic Antonio Ramirez, 60, who was placed in a decaying SRO at 1038 Faile St. in the Bronx that has been cited repeatedly for vermin and fire safety issues.

Ramirez’s tiny, bare-walled apartment has no smoke detector, and outside next to a stove in the hallway a hand-written sign reads, “CLEAN UP AREA — DON’T FEED ROACHES!!!”

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