Hurricane survivors fight back

On the 38th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King’s assassination, survivors of the Katrina and Rita hurricanes went to Queens County Housing Court, above, on April 4 to fight the Radisson hotel chain’s plans to evict them.

None of these survivors wants to live forever in a hotel. But they also don’t want to be thrown into the street.

At a news conference held outside the courthouse, Rev. James Pullings pointed out that Radisson collected $2 million from these hurricane survivors. Yolandis Turner told how she suffered a heart attack in the hotel after management refused to listen to her pleas for a clean, accessible room.

Legal Aid Society attorney Ashwani Prabhakar called the hotel chain “base and vulgar in its greed.” As for Radisson’s paymaster FEMA, “They just want us to disappear,” said Bilal, poet and survivor.

Because they fought back, survivors were able to stave off eviction for 45 more days. Survivors who are able to get other housing and leave earlier can get up to $2,500 from the hotel.

Among the activists and organizations who came out were Rev. Hudson, Brenda Stokely, Attorney Joan Gibbs, Ron Daniels, the New York Solidarity Coalition with Katrina/Rita Survivors, Malcolm X Grass roots Movement, and the Interna tional Action Center.

—Story and photo by Stephen Millies