Community Board 1 rebuked the Department of Homeless Services over its rollout of a lower Manhattan shelter on Tuesday.
In October, the board received notification that the city is planning to open a shelter for 170 single adults experiencing homelessness at 41-43 Beekman Street just southeast of City Hall. The shelter is planned to open in Late 2024.
Since then community resistance has picked up over the shelter — largely from parent groups of a school across the street of the proposed location and a large-scale housing co-op that’s located down the street. According to what DHS has told the community board, the shelter is currently planned for 170 adult men. The agency did not respond with a comment by the time of publication.
The board’s resolution did not argue directly against the shelter but recommended that DHS facilitate a public meeting over the next 60 days so that residents could lobby to change the population it serves from single men to families. The board requested the city pause signing the final paperwork until after they can hold a public hearing.
The resolution went further to claim that the DHS and its umbrella agency the Department of Social Services had ignored the community board’s request for a presentation, and had not answered detailed questions its members posed.
At the meeting, more than a dozen members publicly testified about their concerns over the shelter. Parents at The Spruce Street School, which serves Pre-K to 8th grade and sits across the street, said that they believe the students’ “safety could be potentially compromised” by the shelter. The PTA and parents have submitted petitions requesting for a family shelter in lieu of one for single men.
“It’s a prevention issue. We do some thinking in advance and we just don’t mix them. And that’s the kind of logic that should be applied here,” said CB1 member Susan Cole.
Board member Jess Coleman argued that the efforts to change the plan would stall necessary services to homeless New Yorkers and unfairly demonize them.
“We’re starting to peddle in a lot of really harmful and incorrect stereotypes when we talk about keeping kids safe from homeless people. I just don’t think that we should be putting ourselves on the side of that,” sais Coleman. “I think we should stop putting up roadblocks. Get behind this.”
Councilmember Chris Marte has also come out against the shelter, arguing that there are other resources nearby for the male population, and pushed for a family facility. A spokesperson for Marte’s office said that he recently met with the city, and “we’re not impressed with the presentation and information given to us by DHS.”
Other community board members said that the resolution was more so aimed at the city’s communication with the board rather than the shelter itself.
“We need to hold our agencies to account and they need to be accountable to us in terms of how they approach these issues in the community,” said Richard Corman.
The resolution passed with a few no votes and abstentions.
