Brooklyn residents from Flatbush and Crown Heights are irate that additional homeless shelters are being placed in their neighborhoods, a direct impact from the closure of the 30th Street Shelter, also known as Bellevue, in Manhattan.
Dozens of residents attended the Community Board 14 meeting at Kings Theatre on May 6 to air their grievances over the proposed conversion of a hotel on 1024 Flatbush Ave. into a 130-bed shelter for single men.
The shelter is slated to be operational as soon as this summer, making it the fourth Department of Homeless Services shelter located within 100 feet of supportive housing facility run by The Jewish Board and a 200-bed men's shelter operated by Black Vets for Social Justice.
Meanwhile, Crown Heights residents attended a raucous Community Board 9 meeting on Tuesday, as board members heard about the planned shelter at 169 Empire Blvd. Shelter operator Project Renewal said it plans to turn a Ramada Hotel into a 140-bed shelter for adult single men. This will be the sixth shelter in the neighborhood and it is also slated for summer operation.
Deputy Commissioner Intergovernmental Affairs Jamar Hooks said it would cost taxpayers $154.76 per person, per night at the Empire Boulevard shelter. Fighting for more transparency, residents demanded to know if there was a preemptive contract signed with the Ramada Hotel and the city. DHS officials said they do not have that information immediately available.
"After halting shelter operations at the 30th Street Intake Shelter, it was necessary to identify suitable locations for temporary DHS shelters that could be brought online quickly to address the reduction in shelter capacity for single adult men," a Department of Social Services spokesperson said in a statement. "These facilities will provide individuals experiencing homelessness with a safe and dignified place to stay and an array of onsite services delivered by our experienced not-for-profit provider Project Renewal."
Flatbush, along with Crown Heights, hosts nearly a dozen supportive housing facilities, yet it is the only neighborhood in all of the five boroughs where residents have to walk more than a quarter of a mile to get to a public green space, a Brooklyn Community Board 14 member told the BK Reader. With public safety tenuous in the neighborhood, many residents complained about seeing human defecation and indecent behavior from individuals that reside in the shelters. Flatbush residents also expressed the need for more playgrounds and grocery stores, not shelters.
City Council Member Rita Joseph, who attended both the CB 9 and 14 meetings, argued at Kings Theatre that the proposed shelter would be the third addition within a two block radius.
“This community has carried far more than its fair share. To have a shelter directly across from a historic cultural institution makes no sense because you would never put this in Times Square," she said, referring to the proposed shelter location directly across from Kings Theatre. "And to have a shelter just steps away from a neighborhood of long standing Black homeowners is inequitable nor acceptable. That is not fairness, that is imbalance."
Orlando Lopes, 69, has lived in Flatbush since 1960 and defended the Flatbush Avenue business corridor’s right to remain shelter free, especially after the neighborhood accommodated space for asylum seekers during New York City’s migrant crisis.
“This is the main corridor here. This is the jewel of Flatbush Avenue and we don’t want anything tarnishing it,” Lopes pleaded with the board.
City Council Member Crystal Hudson was the lone supporter of the proposed shelter on Empire Boulevard to the dismay of some constituents.
“The issue is we have a homeless crisis,” Hudson said to shouts of disapproval.
Officials from Project Renewal said it plans to set up a 24/7 hotline for each location, while a DSS spokesperson said it plans to establish a Community Advisory Board for CB 9 and 14 to hold regular meetings between staff, security and community members to address concerns as they arise.
