Planning To Succeed

New York City gets kudos for its services to the homeless. There are temporary emergency shelters operated by the City of New York and those managed by nonprofits. Apparently, the City’s homeless services are so exceptional that one male client of Pamoja House explained to this reporter some shelters in New Jersey release clients with their belongings and a one-way MetroCard. Truth or a joke, clients in family and adult homeless shelters hail from New York City neighborhoods, various States, and nations. Fast paced New Yorkers have big hearts. There are some neighborhoods inhabited by people with unusually big hearts because these neighborhoods get the bulk of homeless shelters and services.

Brooklyn Community Board #8 is one such ‘big-hearted’ community. It has 17 shelters. A shelter for homeless seniors was due to open at 1173 Bergen Street. Petitioners Rebirth of Bergen Street Block Association, Dean Street Block Association and 28 individuals went against NYC Department of Homeless Services, CORE SERVICES GROUP, INC, and CSN, LP (the owners of 1173 Bergen Street) to petition the Kings County Supreme Court to issue a temporary restraining order “to stay the City from opening a 104-bed men’s shelter. Justice Paul Wooten issued the order on March 24, 2017. The petitioners’ grounds were that “their neighborhood is already overburdened and saturated with homeless shelters and that DHS failed to conduct a Fair Share review in accordance with the Fair Share Criteria.” Justice Levine extended the order March 28, 2017, “until the Court has had an opportunity to review the Fair Share Analysis ("Analysis") submitted by the respondent City of New York ("City") as well as forthcoming legal papers.”

From a study of ACRIS, 1173 Bergen Street (Block 1214 Lot 76) has passed through several hands since 2006. Previous owners include 720 Livonia Ave Realty Corp., Bergen LLC, City of NY, Crown Heights North Historic District, Metro Co., and now the property of CSN Partners LP, since November 20, 2014. However, shortly after CSN Partners LP purchased it, the business got involved in flipping the property between itself and 1802304 Alberta, Ltd and Arnav Industries Inc. Profit Sharing Plan & Trust. For these businesses, it is a matter of dollars and cents; for the community it is a matter of home-“Home stable Home”. CSN Partners, LP is related to 20 other companies whose names begin with “CSN”.

While the two Kings County Supreme Court Justices see the validity of completing Fair Share Analysis, other quarters believe the community folks are callous to homeless people’s plight. After all, a shelter designated for seniors would be a relief to those aged 60 years or more. Male adult shelters can be hard for the 18 - 22 years of age cohort to exist in and same for the elderly in terms of verbal and physical threats of harm.

Adem Bunkeddeko, a North Crown Heights resident and Brooklyn Community Board 8 member, views the shelter controversy within the context of Mayor Bill De Blasio’s February 28, 2017 announcement of “the City Plan”. The City Plan is a homeless services plan. The Mayor intends to “open 90 shelters, while cutting the number of facilities by 45%; eliminating “cluster” apartments by 2021; and stop using commercial hotels by 2023.” Critics of City Plan contend it requires more details for its feasibility. As the old commercial tag line goes, some people ask, “Where’s the beef?” What cannot be disregarded is the cost to New York in keeping the homeless in commercial hotels. NYC Comptroller Scott Stringer issued DHS Commercial Hotel Summary, December 14, 2016 and DHS Commercial Hotel Update, April 17, 2017. The “Update” reveals:

“I strongly believe we need to build shelters. There are folks who need dedicated shelters to stabilize their lives. I view it as a social justice issue. On the other hand, Crown Heights is overloaded. I’m not sure whether Crown Heights is shouldering more than its fair share”, opines Adem Bunkeddeko” Regarding City Plan Bunkeddeko said ”The proposal, as currently presented, does not seem fair  nor transparent. There are 90 proposed shelters but the public has been informed about only five of them—three are in the Crown Heights area. One of the three is in operation in Prospect Heights. Without a full understanding of all 90 sites, it is unfair to go forward with the plan. The public needs to see the whole picture.”

It is a fact that Bronx, Brooklyn, and Manhattan bear the load of homeless shelters. Queens and Staten Island go lightly. While the NYC Comptroller, John Liu issued Down and Out: How New York City Places Its Homeless Shelters, May 2013. This report used 2011 shelter data from the Department of Homeless Services which revealed:

It is these concentrations of homeless shelters and services that disturb New Yorkers that reside in these community boards. The public questions how does the application of the eight Fair Share Criteria result in, for example, Brooklyn Community Board #3 having 25 shelters and #8 having 17 shelters but Brooklyn Community Boards #10 and #12 do not have shelters? Is it time that the Fair Share Criteria be revised? The last revision occurred in 1998 during Mayor Rudy Guiliani’s administration and Joseph Rose was City Planning’s Director.