BRONX TIMES REPORTER, S BTR EPT. 3-9, 2021 37
BY TONY SALIMBENE
I hope we remembered to
lower our fl ags to half staff
in memory of those who died
in the latest Afghanistan
mess. We pray for them and
their families and “those who
guard the public trust, that
they may discharge their duties
honestly and well.”
A brief but special kudos
to “Aunt Cathy” Praino
for a well researched and
heart-felt Letter to the Editor
on who Americans really
are. Remember, the September
events we post here, especially
our third Sunday, Sept.
19 post meeting at American
Turners NY, at the usual
times. Any changes and we’ll
let you know.Don’t forget the
20th anniversary of the sneak
attacks on our country. Please
try to attend all of our local
9/11 ceremonies. Welcome
home SUNY Maritime’s USTS
Empire State IV. Bravo-Zulu
(that’s a fl ag hoist for well
done!) Please continue to follow
virus protocols. Together
we can beat this thing.
Until Next Time: “Life is
what happens when you’re
busy making other plans.”
-John Lennon
BY SANDI LUSK
“Coming Soon To 1374
Blondell Avenue & 2443 Poplar
Street: Two 200-bed homeless
shelters for single men.
For more information or to
comment on how this will
affect this community contact:
Community Board 11;
718-892-6262 or www.nyc.gov/
bxcb11.”
You may or may not have
seen this fl ier posted around
Tremont Avenue and in Westchester
Square. The city is
planning to put two twin
homeless shelters, that’s 400
beds, for single homeless men
on either side of Westchester
Square, a 13-minute walk
from each other on the siting
recommendation of Community
Board 11. Both of these
sites are literally on their border:
one across the street from
CB10, and the other down the
block from both CB 9 and 10.
Both CB 9 and 10 have far
more than their share of shelters
and homeless facilities,
while CB 11 was being forced
by the city to locate several, as
they had none of the city’s.
However, although the areas
may be located in three
community board districts,
the neighborhood is Westchester
Square, which has always
had more than its fair
share of similar city agencies.
Each site is inappropriate for
several reasons.
We have already gone
through the burden being
placed on Blondell Avenue
with Blondell Commons next
door, which will be an affordable
housing project for
very low-income residents
and comprising 20% homeless.
The shelter site is also
contaminated with gasoline
and heavy metals that will require
millions in toxic chemical
remediation and has a
high-water table (a creek runs
beneath it). The price tag for
the Blondell 200-bed SRO shelter
for homeless men is $360
million.
Now, a few words about the
Poplar Street site. This shelter
was originally designated
for Stillwell Avenue. But CB
11 fought this siting, saying
it was too near to schools
and residences (the Equestrian
luxury apartments are
nearby). And so, they enthusiastically
put forward 2443
Poplar St. as an alternative
location in a letter from CB 11
to Jocelyn Carter, of the New
York City Department of Social
Services, that was cc’d to
all our elected offi cials, the
mayor, the governor, and the
borough president among others.
“I cannot stress enough
that both 2443 Poplar and …
are more conducive sites for
shelter operations, which will
replicate what is currently
in existence and operation
throughout the outer boroughs
of New York City for, as
I mentioned in my last letter,
much less cost.” The signature
on my copy of the letter
has been blacked out.
Now let’s look at the actual
site. Directly across the street
on Poplar is the playground
for the Easter Seals Bronx
Child Development Center,
which faces onto Tremont Avenue.
Two blocks away is the
Saint Raymond Elementary
School, and nearby, the high
school and it will be across
the street from Saint Raymond’s
Church. That makes
three schools within one or
two blocks of the shelter site.
And, the area is next to many
single-family, two-family and
small apartment houses.
Now let’s add this to the
fact that the city is proposing
another 200-bed single-room
occupancy (SRO) homeless
shelter for single men just a
13-minute walk away, and it
is clear that this site is not appropriate,
despite what CB 11
says.
The siting of these two
twin homeless shelters, with
the same population and
by the same city agency are
clearly in violation of the Fair
Share Doctrine, which states:
To site facilities equitably
by balancing the considerations
of community needs
for services, effi cient and costeffective
service delivery, and
the social, economic, and environmental
impacts of City
facilities upon surrounding
areas.
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
And:
“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 cost-effective 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.
It is clear that these two
shelters will overwhelm this
area. How can this be justifi
ed? While we are aware
that the homeless situation is
and has been a crisis since at
least 2009, the siting of these
so close together and on the
very border of the community
board needing to locate
shelters within their district
and adjacent to other community
boards that have already
taken their fair share is simply
not right.
There will be a full board
meeting of CB 11 at Maestro’s
on Sept 30. We encourageeveryone
who would like to comment
on this to attend. We will
be there. Please call the board
to confi rm the location, 718-
892-6262.
Now a word about the
other fi ght going on, the proposed
rezoning of the Bruckner/
Tremont intersection.
The city plan to upzone the
contiguous areas and build
several affordable high-rise
housing units. This too, if approved
by the city, will open
the door to massive overdevelopment,
as we are seeing on
Blondell Avenue.
Taken all together, this is
nothing less than a major assault
on our communities.
These changes will change
the nature of our community
forever.
While, the needs are great
(yes, we know there are affordable
housing and homeless
crises, as we have been
told at least since 2009) where
is rational city planning?
Where does the community
factor into these plans? These
projects seem like a haphazard
ad hoc attempt to “do
something, anything” about
festering problems that have
been neglected for decades,
putting Band-Aids on very serious
problems that have gone
on too long.
To just plunk down hundreds
of homeless into two
SROs in a 1-mile square area,
and to upzone a low-density
area with more than 400 units
with no planning or increased
infrastructure is madness
and a recipe for chaos. We
support the fi ght against
this overdevelopment until
growth can be done in a rational
way working together
with the community, and we
encourage others to also.
Stay safe. Until we meet
again.
CIVIC CENTER
Westchester Square
Zerega Improvement
Organization
CIVIC CENTER
Korony Post 253
Photo Jason Cohen
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