#Homeless must use back door at La Guardia Marriott

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Resident airline pilots and tennis stars attending the nearby U.S. Open — including Naomi Osaka — breeze through the front door of the La Guardia Airport Marriott, but nearly 100 homeless men being housed there had to use a “poor door” in the back, the men say.
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Resident airline pilots and tennis stars attending the nearby U.S. Open — including Naomi Osaka — breeze through the front door of the La Guardia Airport Marriott, but nearly 100 homeless men being housed there had to use a “poor door” in the back, the men say.

“It made me feel belittled,” said bartender Geraldo Rodriquez, 27.

Rodriquez said he was directed to the back door after “My mom tried to drop me off at the front.

“The man at the front desk asked me, ‘Are you coming from the shelter?’ When I said yes, he was like, ’Oh, you have to go that way.’ He just pointed to the back. I was literally walking around trying to find out where to go.”

Rodriguez said he had to go down a hill and search for the door.

“They said it was the employee entrance,” he said. “I felt so ashamed.”

Another homeless occupant who had stayed at the hotel said it was like going to the hospital without insurance and being treated “like crap.”

“That’s how the system is built. They appear as if they care but they don’t care. They just put on a face,” said the man who did not want to give his name.

Lu MaKonnen, 45, former Uber driver, said the hotel’s directive made him feel like a second class citizen.

“They didn’t give us any explanation. They just told us to go through the back … that’s the only way,” he said.

The homeless men, who were mostly black and Hispanic, were at the Marriott alongside the Grand Central Parkway until about six weeks ago.

The de Blasio Administration has relocated about 10,000 shelter residents to hotels to give them more space during the coronavirus outbreak.

Jabari Brisport, a Democratic socialist who is seeking to represent part of Brooklyn in the state Senate, blasted the double door standard.

“This is the inevitable result of de Blasio campaigning on a tale of two cities and then sharpening that divide,” he said.

The Marriott’s guests now include U.S. Open staffers and players like Osaka who has worn masks throughout the tournament to honor George Floyd and other victims of social injustice.

Osaka won the tournament yesterday.

It was unclear if the homeless guests were moved out to prepare for the VIP occupants.

The homeless men were moved from the Marriott to the nearby Ibis Syles hotel.

“We are allowed to use the front entrance,” Rodriguez said of this stay at the new quarters.

A Marriott hotel manager declined to comment and a rep for the chain spokespeople for the chain and Mayor de Blasio did not return requests for comment.

Additional reporting by Jon Levine