The Legal Aid Society is sounding the alarm over the City’s failure to properly accommodate the needs of homeless veterans as they are transferred out of hotels and into a Queens shelter, as reported by the New York Daily News.

The veterans were determined to need single or double rooms to protect them from the spread of COVID-19. However, the conditions of their new shelter do not meet those standards. The Borden Avenue Veterans Residence has communal bathrooms and is split up into cubicles with walls that do not reach the ceiling, which do nothing to prevent airflow between areas, leaving them at risk of contracting the virus. The residents also describe leaking ceilings and electrical outlets that do not work.

This summer, The Legal Aid Society secured an order requiring the City to transfer shelter residents only to appropriate facilities that could meet individuals’ needs. This case is a stark illustration of how the Department of Homeless Services has failed to meet those terms.