Judge orders NYC to provide appropriate AIDS housing

A New York City judge on Thursday ordered the city to provide "medically appropriate" housing to homeless people with HIV/AIDS. Judge Eileen Bransten's ruling stemmed from a complaint brought in November 2001 by seven people with HIV/AIDS who said they were housed in hotel rooms that lacked heat, hot water, and electricity. Municipal law requires the city to provide housing to homeless people with AIDS. Bransten ruled that the housing the seven complainants had received was "not suitable for healthy individuals, much less for persons with severely compromised immune systems." She ordered the city to cease providing temporary housing in facilities that lack basic services. Lawyers for the city say they plan to appeal the decision.