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A Very Late Checkout
New York Magazine ^ | June 5, 2006 issue | Matthew Philips

Posted on 06/02/2006 9:42:08 AM PDT by Klatuu

This winter, FEMA put up over 300 Hurricane Katrina evacuees in New York City hotels. Almost all of them have gone back to their lives, their jobs. But not Theon Johnson. He’s currently sprawled out watching Halloween 5 on one of the two full-size beds in his room at the JFK Airport Holiday Inn. He is one of four evacuees still living in a hotel in the city.

(Excerpt) Read more at nymetro.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; US: Louisiana
KEYWORDS: fema; katrina; nola
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Halle ... Berry!
1 posted on 06/02/2006 9:42:10 AM PDT by Klatuu
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To: Klatuu

They should send a team of big ol' guys to his room, some to pack his personal belingings, others to drag him off the peoperty. "Out you go, fatass! You overstayed your welcome, and outlasted our compassion."


2 posted on 06/02/2006 9:46:00 AM PDT by theDentist (Qwerty ergo typo : I type, therefore I misspelll. 17,400+ snide replies and counting!)
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To: theDentist
One has to wonder what the gubmint was thinking putting these people in airport hotels in NYC. Not only are idiotic laws in place to retard eviction, but there's a nearly inexaustable supply of suckers to support them.

It would have been far better to spend a little more on transportation to spread them out to towns like Lovelock, Nevada and Beulah, North Dakota where hotels are a lot cheaper and the local political climate, while hospitable to people who will shift for themselves a little, have no sympathy whatsoever to layabouts.

3 posted on 06/02/2006 9:51:48 AM PDT by Vigilanteman (crime would drop like a sprung trapdoor if we brought back good old-fashioned hangings)
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To: Klatuu
“I spent my money just the way I wanted, and I think [fema] should send me some more,”

Attention Mr. Johnson, your spaceship is leaving now...
4 posted on 06/02/2006 9:53:17 AM PDT by craig61a
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To: Klatuu

This is typical, people like this didn't want to work before the storm and sure don't want to after it; not as long as they got their "check hookup" anyhow.

I'm thankful to the govt and all the communities that have helped out us refugees when we needed it. But after a certain period of time, personal responsibility needs to kick in and you have to think about feeding, clothing and housing yourself.

Then again, there are those people that are happy living in a drug and crime infested cesspool as long as the government picked up the tab for their lives.


5 posted on 06/02/2006 9:56:38 AM PDT by NOLA_homebrewer
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To: Vigilanteman

Those communities you mentioned are less likely to put up with welfare leeches than the major cities are.

Which is another reason why it would've been a good idea...


6 posted on 06/02/2006 9:58:59 AM PDT by NOLA_homebrewer
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To: Vigilanteman
It would have been far better to spend a little more on transportation to spread them out to towns like Lovelock, Nevada and Beulah, North Dakota...

Why do you think we want to support moochers here in North Dakota? I'd rather leave them in the Blue States so the lefties can fund their Halle-Berry-watching butts.

7 posted on 06/02/2006 9:58:59 AM PDT by GOP_Party_Animal
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To: Klatuu

Tell Vincente Fox that for every illegal that crosses the border, we send over one Katrina 'victim'.


8 posted on 06/02/2006 10:04:42 AM PDT by sportutegrl (People who say, "All I know is . . ." really mean, "All I want you to focus on is . . .")
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To: sportutegrl

Brings new meaning to the expression "bugs check in but they don't check out".


9 posted on 06/02/2006 10:11:27 AM PDT by tigtog
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To: theDentist

> They should send a team of big ol' guys to his room...

Sadly, that would be illegal due to "squatters rights." However... I've gotta wonder why...
A) ... is the power to his room still on?
B) ... is the water to his room still on?
C) ... haven't they blocked up his window from the outside?
D) ... haven't they installed speakers on the walls of the rooms surrounding his, broadcasting *really* annoying sound?
E) ... do they allow food deliveries?
F) ... don't they jack up the heat to his room?
G) ... don't they let a rabid badger or an annoyed skunk into his room?
H) ... don't they set up a food cart down the hall wafting the smell of *really* *good* food his way?

Starve him out. Dehydrate him. Cook him. Sleep-deprive him. Convince him to leave under his own power, and lock the door behind him. Yes, the room will be a filthy horrible sty at the end... but he will himself be in misery, and you'll ahve your hotel back. And it'll be a good object lesson.


10 posted on 06/02/2006 10:43:02 AM PDT by orionblamblam (I'm interested in science and preventing its corruption, so here I am.)
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To: Klatuu
When Johnson’s caseworker, Sharon, comes around, she gives him some bus passes and maybe a few bucks, but she’s getting frustrated. “They sit around on their butts watching TV. There’s only but so much I can do if they’re not willing to help themselves.”

After being flown here for free back in September, Johnson’s been at the Holiday Inn since Super Bowl Sunday. ... [FEMA] sent him $9,000 in housing aid, but he spent it all on booze, cigarettes, some clothes, and food—partying, mostly. “I spent my money just the way I wanted, and I think [FEMA] should send me some more,” he says. But it won’t. Johnson’s caseworker says [FEMA] offered to buy him a ticket home to New Orleans in February, but he didn’t take it. [FEMA] won’t now. So he’s stuck, at least until the Holiday Inn pays him to leave.

Attorneys with the Legal Aid Society have been negotiating a buyout deal for Johnson and the remaining evacuees, and expect a settlement—he heard about $1,200—imminently. He says he’ll use the money to get a room for a few nights and have some fun before flying back to his little house in New Orleans’ Third Ward.

If I was black, I might get away with calling this freeloading S.O.B. what he is.

At least I can say he's a perfect example of why you should never give a wad of cash to a bum.

11 posted on 06/02/2006 10:44:18 AM PDT by newgeezer (Repeal all Amendments after XV. Yes, ALL of them. Yes, I mean that one, too.)
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To: orionblamblam

Maybe they should send Susan Estrich to his room to give him a pep talk for 3 consecutive days.


12 posted on 06/02/2006 11:02:20 AM PDT by theDentist (Qwerty ergo typo : I type, therefore I misspelll. 17,400+ snide replies and counting!)
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To: Klatuu

If the left want to use Haditha against the right, then the right should useTheon Johnson against the left.


13 posted on 06/02/2006 11:16:20 AM PDT by nevergiveup (Locals say "puh-TUCK-it")
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To: theDentist
Egad...I never want to find myself on your bad side!
14 posted on 06/02/2006 12:14:27 PM PDT by grellis (will do dishes for tagline)
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To: orionblamblam

If memory serves, Holiday Inn would get charged with illegal eviction if it did any of those things. Squatters have better rights than those of us paying property taxes.


15 posted on 06/02/2006 12:16:14 PM PDT by grellis (will do dishes for tagline)
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To: grellis

> Holiday Inn would get charged with illegal eviction if it did any of those things.

Even shutting off water and power????


16 posted on 06/02/2006 12:19:11 PM PDT by orionblamblam (I'm interested in science and preventing its corruption, so here I am.)
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To: Vigilanteman

I live only 35 miles south of Lovelock. I think that would have been a GREAT place to put them. There is also a prison nearby, to 'house' some too. Yeah, once you get out here in the desert, you will need to fend for yourself. But, $9k will last along time in the local casinos, at least nickels do.


17 posted on 06/02/2006 1:37:48 PM PDT by AJMaXx (ILU Roo.....!)
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To: GOP_Party_Animal

THe nice thing about North Dakota is you either work or you freeze to death. I don't think Mr. Johnson would be staying at his hotel still had it been located there.


18 posted on 06/02/2006 2:12:05 PM PDT by Vigilanteman (crime would drop like a sprung trapdoor if we brought back good old-fashioned hangings)
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To: orionblamblam
Even shutting off water and power????

In New York, possibly elsewhere. My sister lives upstate and had a nightmare of a squatter a few years ago. Unbelievable, the hoops she jumped to get the bum out while he destroyed her property.

I have a whole damn squad of squatters living in the duplex next door to my home. They received an eviction notice nearly two weeks ago, but the hearing isn't until late June. They are tearing the house apart. By the time of the hearing, the house will most likely have to be red-tagged and boarded.

19 posted on 06/02/2006 6:42:26 PM PDT by grellis (will do dishes for tagline)
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To: orionblamblam

It'd be illegal. They can't harass him out.


20 posted on 06/02/2006 8:54:13 PM PDT by Bogey78O (<thinking of new tagline>)
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