Queens Residents Still Can’t Go Home Since Ida, Some Being Sent to New Hotels

It’s been two and a half months since Ida slammed the tri-state, but the impact from the deadly storm is far from over.

Many New Yorkers are still out of their homes, including a group of Queens residents who are still waiting to hear where they’ll move to next. A Radisson Hotel near JFK Airport has become a home of sorts for more than a dozen of those families, all of whom were renters whose previous homes were destroyed.

Eileen Bendoyro’s East Elmhurst basement apartment was ruined when the floodwaters came in, leaving the place wet and dirty, coated in a filthy slush with a foul stench. She tried to clean it, but eventually realized her home was now inhospitable.

“We couldn’t save nothing. The only clothes that I was wearing that day. That’s it,” she said.

In the days that followed the storm, the city and American Red Cross coordinated to move 20 families into the hotel, where most have lived since Sept. 8. Some are elderly, others have young kids.

Within the last week, the displaced residents got word they will need to change hotels, with some going to Brooklyn, while others will head to Long Island City. Some fearful residents rallied, vowing to stick together.

“We are trying to support each other. Right. In my case I don’t have family here they are my family,” said Francisco Carrillo.

Bendoyro said that they are simply looking for “an extension for holidays. Holidays very important. The families, the kids.”

From the outside of Bendoyro’s old apartment, gone was any evidence of the storm that displaced her and her 13-year-old son. But for them — like so many victims of Ida — finding a new permanent place hasn’t been easy.

They need money for a down payment, while also trying to put their lives back together. They are hoping to live in the hotel for at least another month.

“The city is doing something for us. I’m not going to say no. They are doing something for us,” she said.

A rep for the city said they are actively working to get 380 storm-impacted families permanent homes.