City to Pay Katrina Hotel Bills Through December

New York, NY —

New York and other cities say FEMA needs to give the evacuees of Hurricane Katrina more time to find permanent homes. The federal agency plans to stop paying hotel bills by the end of the month. WNYC's Cindy Rodriguez reports.

REPORTER: Nearly 500 people remain in 7 city hotels. The City says it will pay for their rooms through December if necessary but officials say footing the bill for FEMA is unfair. Some evacuees attended a city-sponsored housing fair and found possible apartments but obstacles remain. One man who gave his name as New Orleans Spice says landlords don't trust FEMA will pay their rent.

SPICE: FEMA's supposed to be paying for 6 months to 18 months and this that and the other and me myself I haven't even received anything but the two-thousand dollars when I was in Texas.

REPORTER: The city says its asked FEMA to provide assistance for a full 18 months because rent stabilized landlords can't sign leases for less than a year. FEMA did not respond to a request for comment.