As South Bronx safe haven opens, Adams
defends criticis of homelessness strategy
24
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, APRIL 1-7, 2022 BXR
Councilmember Rafael Salamanca,
whose legislative
district includes the South
Bronx, said that while he
had doubts of another shelter
in his district, he was
won over by the on-site access
to social services and
medical care.
However, the Adams administration’s
handling of
rising homelessness in NYC
— which advocacy groups
say has been fueled by housing
insecurity and rising
rents — has been mixed. Adams
said that criticism of
his plans are due to a “lack
of trust” and a city that has
normalized homelessness.
As task force officials
have visited more than 150
locations to offer shelter and
services before giving homeless
residents 24-48 hours notice
to vacate upon first contact
with city agents, some
have balked at the mayor’s
aggressive homelessness
strategy.
The Coalition for the
Homeless criticized Adams’
homelessness plan, which
also includes mass removal
of homeless individuals
from city subway stations
amid a rise in transit-related
crime, as “tired and cruel.”
Others applaud Adams for
doing “something” about
homelessness, but note that
his solution seems to pushing
more homeless people
into the Bronx.
“I mean there’s been evidence
that having people
sleeping all over the street
and yelling at patrons on our
trains is no way to live,” said
Raymond Jones, a transit
worker in the Bronx. “People
are getting attacked by
scared, confused homelessness
people … but I think
(Adams) is just pushing
them to the Bronx and making
it our problem, not Manhattan’s.”
Citing increasing homelessness
among Bronxites,
DSS officials told the Bronx
Times their facilities are
sited to ensure those in the
shelter system are close to
their support systems and
familiar surroundings.
In the west Bronx — a
four-community district region
that includes Fordham,
Belmont, Bedford Park and
Kingsbridge — there are 63
shelters within the area’s
21.23 square-mile limits. In
South Bronx-based community
districts 1, 2 and 3, which
span the neighborhoods of
Melrose, Hunts Point and
Morrisania, 38 facilities are
sited within 6 square miles.
“That number has gone
up,” said one Community
Board 3 member who declined
to be named. “We’re
trying to do the best we can
to address homelessness in
the area, but it seems like
DSS is only interested in siting
a shelter here and then
walking away.”
Community boards do
not have a formal review process
for shelters. The Bronx
Times previously reported
that DSS notifies communities
of their shelter plans at
least 30 days before a potential
opening, and under the
Turning the Tide plan have
provided a combined average
of 259 days notice.
More than 60,000 people
stayed in a municipal shelter
in January. A bulk of the
city’s DSS shelter population
are families with children,
nearly all of them Black or
Latino, City Limits reported.
According to DSS,
roughly 70% of city shelter
residents are families with
children, and the vast majority
of those are headed by
single mothers, according
to DSS. About 15,000 schoolaged
children — the 4-17 age
range— stay in city shelters
each night.
BY ROBBIE SEQUEIRA
As he continues a twoweek
blitz to dismantle 150
homeless encampment sites
across the city, Mayor Eric
Adams defended his administration’s
handling of
NYC homelessness Tuesday
while unveiling a new 80-
bed safe haven homeless facility
in the South Bronx.
“We know we’re on the
right path … and we’ve normalized
people living on the
street in cardboard boxes,”
he said. “I know folks are
critical and saying ‘there
goes that po-po’ … but at the
end of the day when you finally
notice that you’re not
going to have encampments
everywhere, people on your
streets everywhere, you’re
going take this moment
and understand I made us a
healthy city.”
Adams, who was on hand
to cut the ribbon unveiling
the Morris Avenue Safe Haven
facility — located at 528
Morris Ave. in Mott Haven
and operated by Care For the
Homeless — said the facility
is proof that his administration
is on the right track in
addressing homelessness.
City partners said that
the safe haven will be a
place where unsheltered individuals
can receive food,
bed space and access to social
services and support
systems in an effort to secure
long-term housing. City
Mayor Eric Adams and Care For Homeless CEO and President George
Nashak tout the Morris Avenue Safe Haven as a step in the right
direction in addressing NYC homelessness. Photo | Adrian Childress