more letters on page 42
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, A BTR UG. 6-12, 2021 13
To the Editor,
The following is an open
letter sent to District Manager
Jeremy Warneke of Community
Board 11 and printed at
the request of its author.
It is with great consternation
that we read in the local
newspaper about a second
200-bed SRO for homeless
single men to be built at 2443
Poplar St., on the fringes of
Westchester Square, as there
is already a plan for DHS to
build an exact twin 200-bed
shelter for single men on
Blondell Avenue, not even a
mile away (a 4-minute drive
or 13 minutes walking distance
also on the fringes of
Westchester Square). These
are both in close proximity
to another family shelter already
on St. Peter’s Avenue
in Westchester Square. All
three shelters are run by the
city.
For many years we have
been working to improve the
residential and business —
along with the Westchester
BID — environment, and in
so doing have learned a lot
about the siting of various
city and state social service
facilities, of which Westchester
Square has always shouldered
much more than its
share of the burden.
We understand about the
Fair Share criteria established
in 1995 that certain
criteria must be taken into
account when placing Article
9 facilities, such as homeless
shelters, which are not subject
to the ULURP process,
thus not requiring a public
comment or hearing period.
The siting of a duplicate
200-bed SRO for homeless
single men within walking
distance of another, both city
facilities serving the exact
same population, we feel is
oversaturation and does not
comply with the Fair Share
criteria:
“Minimal concentration
of residential facilities
in surrounding neighborhood*.”
From: FAIR SHARE, An
Assessment of New York
City’s Facility Siting Process
A Report to the Mayor and
The City Planning Commission
1995. Page 64 Citywide
Statement of Needs for Fiscal
Year 1995-1996.
Fairness of siting:
“Under pressure from
NIMBYs, elected offi cials
are more likely to continue
to site shelters, as well as
other LULUs, in areas where
residents have less political
power, time, and money to
protest.”
And:
“In contrast, enacting
a modifi ed fair share approach
in which new shelters
are placed in under-concentrated
areas note they do not
specify Community Boards
while retaining the shelters
currently located in overconcentrated
areas allows
for fl exibility in placing shelter
residents according to
their individualized needs.”
From: Halmi A. “Siting
Homeless Shelters in New
York City: Fair Share Versus
Borough-Based.” Fordham
Urban Law Journal.
2020;47(5); Article 8 Volume
47 Number 5 Article 8.
“The criteria shall be designed
to further the fair
distribution among communities
of the burdens and
benefi ts associated with city
facilities, consistent with
community needs for services
and effi cient and costeffective
delivery of services
and with due regard for the
social and economic impacts
of such facilities upon the areas
surrounding the sites.”
Article 203 of the City
Charter; Criteria for location
of city facilities.
And: Fair Share Criteria:
Core goal 1 To site facilities
equitably by balancing
the considerations of community
needs for services, effi
cient and cost-effective service
delivery, and the social,
economic, and environmental
impacts of City facilities
upon surrounding areas.
Core goals 6- 7 Lessen
disparities among communities
in the level of responsibility
each bears for facilities
serving Citywide or regional
needs;
Preserve the social fabric
of the City’s diverse neighborhoods
by avoiding undue concentrations
of institutional
uses in residential areas
From: “DOWN AND OUT:
How New York City Places
Its Homeless Shelters.” Published
by the New York City
Comptroller’s Offi ce; May
2013
We strongly feel the siting
of these two 200-bed shelters
so close together in one community
Westchester Square
is one community although
trisected by three community
board boundary lines;
although the two shelters
are technically situated in
Community Board 11, closely
abutting CB 9 and 10, this fact
should not be used to obfuscate
the real issue of community
impact meets the oversaturation
test and is clearly
not consistent with the Fair
Share criteria.
Westchester Square
has enough of a burden for
a 2-mile area. Enough is
enough. The fi rst shelter on
Blondell Avenue will have
enough of a detrimental effect
on Westchester Square.
Placing another one almost
next to this one on Poplar
Street, which is a residential
area, is unconscionable and
will surely be the death knell
for the Square. Unfair doesn’t
even begin to describe it.
This shelter should not be
built there.
Sandi Lusk,
Westchester Square
Zerega Improvement
Oganization, Inc.
To the Editor,
The American immigration
system is in need of
reform and politicians on
both sides of the aislerecognizethis
need. In addition,
private citizens haveestablished
groups to study the
problem and offer possible
solutions.
The Federation for American
Immigration Reform
(FAIR) is one such group.
Sounds innocuous; theirsuggestions
might be useful.
John Tanton founded
the group in 1979. The fi rst
clue regarding the actual
goal of FAIR is found in Mr.
Tanton’s 1986 statement, “As
Whites see their power and
control over their lives declining,
will they simply go
quietly into the night? Or
will there be an explosion?”
In 1993 Tanton wrote,
“I’ve come to the point of
view that for European-
American society and culture
to persist requires a European
American majority,
and a clear one at that.”
Sounds like Mr. Tanton
was promoting white nationalism,
the idea that there is a
“white race” and it is genetically
and culturally superior
to other “races.” Mr. Tanton
also founded the Center
for Immigration Studies, a
“think tank” that circulates
anti-immigrant reports that
promote the alleged criminality
of immigrants. These
reports are used by FAIR in
an attempt to create a veneer
of legitimacy to their extremist
viewpoints.
As former Rep. Luis Gutierrez
pointed out in 2017,
“Their research is always
questionable because they
torture the data to make it
arrive at the conclusion they
desire … It is the worst kind
of deception, but politicians
… eat it up because it always
looks somewhat legitimate
at fi rst glance.”
Sources that “massage”
information to conform with
their bias to “prove” the validity
of their position are especially
dangerous and dishonest.
In addition, the very
busy Mr. Tanton also formed
a pro-eugenics organization,
the Society for Genetic
Education. Eugenicsis a set
of beliefs and practices that
aim to improve the geneticquality
of human beings. Eugenics
seeks to achieve this
goal by excluding people and
groups judged to be inferior;
Adolf Hitler was an enthusiastic
practitioner of this
pseudo-science.
Citizens should be aware
of the true goals of the Federation
for American Immigration
Reformand the-
Center for Immigration
Studiesand reject their noxious
objectives and all individuals
who propagate them.
Pasqual Pelosi
letters & comments
In the July 23 edition of this newspaper, the article “Residents want Loreto Playground fi nished”
stated that the Morris Park Business improvement District had to cancel its summer concert
series due to the condition of the park. There was no summer concert series scheulded for
this summer.
LET US HEAR FROM YOU
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care of this newspaper to Laura Guerriero, Publisher, the Bronx Times Reporter,
3604 E. Tremont Ave., Bronx, NY 10465, or e-mail to bronxtimes@cnglocal.com.
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