NEWS STORY!
against proposed homeless shelter
COURIER LIFE, MARCH 12-18, 2021 5
Locals have also criticized
the homeless people the shelter
would house, arguing at
a heated community board
meeting in January that the
facility would lower property
values and pose a threat to
children who attend nearby
schools.
Local Councilman Chaim
Deutsch, who has echoed some
of these concerns, started a
petition shortly after the proposal’s
announcement that
calls on the city to scrap the
plan in part because “the proposed
site is mere steps away
from half a dozen schools, as
well as within a fi ve minute
walk of two city playgrounds.”
But during Sunday’s protest
outside Gracie Mansion,
the outgoing councilmember
changed his tune, focusing instead
on how the shelter system
allegedly fails the homeless.
“These congregate shelters
are not the solution, are
not the answers for homelessness,”
said Deutsch, who
represents Brighton Beach,
Sheepshead Bay, Midwood,
and Marine Park. “I spoke to
the people who are in these
homeless shelters, and they
told me the resources aren’t
there, the services aren’t
there.”
Deutsch, who organized
Sunday’s protest, said that
he proposed a plan to Mayor
Bill de Blasio six years ago
that would expand permanent
housing for homeless seniors,
but that the mayor has not implemented
it. Instead, the administration
has opened “congregate
shelters,” temporary
housing that offers homeless
residents social services, job
training, and a private room
with shared facilities.
“When the city doesn’t
move on permanent housing
plans, and all of a sudden they
come in with congregate shelters,
it’s unacceptable because
the fi rst option — and the best
option — is permanent housing,”
Deutsch told Brooklyn
Paper. “Many of the homeless
don’t want to be in these congregate
shelters because it’s
not healthy for them.”
Deutsch said he wouldn’t
protest if the city signed a
short-term lease for a new
shelter, but stressed that the
mayor’s decision to open 90
community-based shelters by
the end of the year now ties
the hands of a future administration
seeking to reform the
system.
“We’ll let the next administration
come up with their
own plan,” he said.
Deutsch’s district currently
contains rent-subsidized
Mitchell-Lama housing,
but Deutsch said he was not
aware of any permanent housing
for the formerly homeless.
More than 100 protesters
attended the March 7 demonstration,
including locals
from Sheepshead Bay, Manhattan
Beach, and the Upper
East Side against the incoming
congregate shelters
near them, as well as several
Council candidates vying for
Deutsch’s District 48 Council
seat.
Councilmembers Robert
Cornegy and Robert Holden,
who were slated to attend
the protest, did not show up.
Deutsch said he didn’t know
why they didn’t come, and
their representatives did not
respond to requests for comment.
Reverend Kevin Mc-
Call, founder of Brownsville’s
Crisis Action Center, who was
also advertised to speak on
the event poster, apparently
did not attend because of a
medical emergency, Deutsch
said.
One attendee from Brighton
Beach said he would support
the shelter if it provided
permanent housing, and
added that he didn’t believe
people in the city’s shelter system
are treated well.
“Back in Russia, I was almost
homeless,” said Paul
Kptsam. “I would never want
them to live like that and
put them in like a prison. It
shouldn’t be in a place where
they will not be treated like
human beings.”
Another local, however,
said he was primarily worried
that the shelter would
hurt the neighborhood.
“Wherever there is a
homeless shelter, there is always
something happening.
It brings crime to the neighborhood”
said Alexander
Katsnelson, who said he runs
a hardware shop in Midwood
and lives in Sheepshead Bay.
“We don’t want our kids to be
exposed to this stuff.”
A spokesman for the Department
of Homeless Services
said that claims that
shelters treat residents poorly
or cause spikes in crime are
false and serve to perpetuate
discrimination against New
Yorkers experiencing homelessness.
“These egregious claims
are simply not true – in fact,
not only are they false, but
they further actively stigmatize
the experience of homelessness
and mislead the public
about the important work
that service providers do to
help New Yorkers in need get
back on their feet every day,”
said Isaac McGinn.
Councilman Deutsch railed against the city’s congregate shelters during the protest. Photo by Rose Adams