HEATED OVER HOUSING
Two more homeless shelters slated for southern Brooklyn
BY ROSE ADAMS
The city announced its plans
to build a men’s homeless shelter
in Bensonhurst, and is reportedly
looking to build a second
shelter in either Bay Ridge
or Dyker Heights, according to
an anonymous political insider.
The proposed Bensonhurst
facility will rise on the corner
of Bath Avenue and Bay 29th
Street, a vacant lot that was formerly
an Enterprise car rental,
the Department of Homeless
Services told local leaders in
late December. The 150-bed shelter
will be operated by a homeless
provider called the Institute
for Community Living.
Offi cials have not yet chosen
a location for the other
southern Brooklyn shelter, but
are reportedly searching for a
site within Community District
10, which encompasses
Dyker Heights, Bay Ridge, and
Fort Hamilton, according to
the politico who spoke on the
condition of anonymity.
Community Board 10 had
not yet been alerted to the possibility
COURIER L 14 IFE, FEBRUARY 5-11, 2021
of a new shelter as of
Jan. 26, and representatives
with the Department of Homeless
Services did not respond
to a request for comment.
The two shelters, as well as
a third planned for Brighton
Beach, are part of Mayor Bill de
Blasio’s “Turning the Tide” program
— a four-year initiative
that seeks to reduce the shelter
system’s footprint by building
90 community-based shelters
spread evenly across the fi ve
boroughs by board district.
Previously, under the administration
of Mayor Michael
Bloomberg, shelters were
mostly built in areas where
they were cheapest to operate,
which often meant clustering
the homeless population in
only poor neighborhoods.
These new facilities, all for
single adults, would allow the
city to stop housing the homeless
in hotels and controversial
“cluster sites” — apartments
in private buildings
that tend to rake in additional
costs and building violations.
Homeless shelters are considered
emergency resources,
and are thus exempt from the
burdensome land use review
procedure. The city does not
need to collect community input
to build a shelter, and must
only give locals 30 days to voice
their concerns about the proposal
before forging ahead.
In a recent meeting held by
the Bensonhurst community
board, some objected to the
shelter slated for Bath Avenue.
“Where this is going to be is, I
think, two blocks away from the
grammar school that’s there by
the precinct,” said Community
Board 11 Chair Bill Guarinello,
who runs the social services
program Heartshare, which operates
two family shelters in the
Bronx. “I don’t think that our
community fi ts with a men’s
shelter, a 150-bed no less.”
The shelter site is two blocks
away from a high school, the
East Academy of Science and
Technology, and about seven
blocks from PS 108 and PS
200, but is not near any other
schools. Guarinello also said
that he worried the shelter’s
residents would roam around
the newly-renovated Bensonhurst
Park, located one block
away, and that there wasn’t
enough public space to accommodate
the infl ux of people.
He argued that the shelter
should instead house local students
who live in temporaryhousing.
“If there’s no public
hearing, do what you guys have
to do. Let your community know,
let your neighbors know,” he
said. “It isn’t gong to be pretty.”
Community Board 11 will
hold a meeting with the Department
of Homeless Services
about the details regarding
the new shelter at 11 am on
Friday, Jan. 29.
A new homeless shelter is planned for 2147 Bath Ave. in Bensonhurst.
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