In New York City, people whose homes were ruined by Superstorm Sandy gathered on the steps of City Hall to call for assistance and denounce squalid living conditions in shelters and hotels where they have been forced to live. Thousands of people still remain in temporary housing more than three months after the storm. Isaiah Douglas Laws is one of them. He described the difficulty of his family’s situation.

Isaiah Douglas Laws: “We need assistance. This is too much for us to handle, emotionally and physically. This is a scary situation. And if I could ask for one thing, I just want to live in my home peacefully and go to sleep without worrying about anything.”

Aid groups joined with evacuated families at the event Tuesday to outline a series of demands for assisting low-income people left homeless by Sandy. Giselle Routhier is with Coalition for the Homeless.

Giselle Routhier: “There are a few things that the city could immediately do. The first and foremost is to move families from unsafe and unsanitary conditions that we have seen at some of these evacuee hotels. The second is to provide immediate need services like food and transportation. And the last and most important is to work on a long-term housing solution.”