State Assemblymember William Colton on Tuesday said he condemns the decision of the city’s Department of Homeless Services to proceed with the construction of a homeless shelter slated for 86th Street and 25th Avenue, calling it “reckless and ill-advised."
Colton said his office received a call from a DHS representative notifying the city's plan to break ground this month on a 150-bed men's homeless shelter at 2501 86th St., which sits on the border of Gravesend and Bensonhurst.
Many community members, including Colton and City Council Member Susan Zhuang, have opposed the building of the shelter, and have staged multiple protests over the last two years.
“This has always been the wrong project in the wrong location,” Colton said in a statement. “Community opposition to the project has been sustained from the beginning, and has only grown as evidence has surfaced that the city has not taken due care to make sure that all appropriate procedures are followed. People here worry not only about the impact of the shelter on the neighborhood, but also whether the entire shelter system is not simply a boondoggle that enables greedy developers and shelter operators to make money on the backs of our homeless neighbors, who would be better served by developing permanent housing with supportive services available as necessary.”
Colton, who represents Gravesend, Bensonhurst, Bath Beach and Dyker Heights, said the city has bypassed key, mandatory requirements, including gas shutoff, water shutoff, electrical disconnection, sewer capping, rodent control, notifications to neighbors and Community Board 11, photos and safety documentation and pre-demolition inspection.
In addition, the assemblyman alleges that the asbestos inspection, which the city Department of Buildings did require, was fraudulent, and that the inspector who said had done the inspection actually never went to the property at when he said he was there.
Colton said he has drafted legislation that, if signed into law, would prevent homeless shelters from being sited within 500 feet of a transit facility, school or place of worship.
