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BROOKLYN WEEKLY, JULY 28, 2019
‘Something feels very wrong’
Locals demand answers on pricey cost of Park Slope homeless shelters
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BY AIDAN GRAHAM
Brownstone Brooklyn
residents gathered at
Grand Prospect Hall on
Tuesday to condemn the
city for inking a preliminary
contract deal that
will cost taxpayers more
than $10,000 per unit, per
month in operating costs
for two planned homeless
shelters in Park Slope.
“Where does it say in
the city charter, or anywhere,
that the taxpayers
of this city have a
responsibility to pay almost
$11,000 per-month
to house homeless people
in luxury condos that the
people in the community
can’t afford to live in?”
railed Bo Samajopoulos.
The neighboring shelters
— located at 535 and
555 Fourth avenues, and
offering a combined 253
housing units — have divided
community members,
who have demonstrated
both ardent
support and fierce opposition
to the Department of
Homeless Services plan
since the refuges were announced
last April.
According to public
data , the city is planning
on inking two roughly
nine-year contracts for
the buildings, both of
which will be operated by
not-for-profit Women In
Need at a combined cost
of $260 million beginning
in December.
The building at 535
Fourth Ave. will cost taxpayers
approximately
$17 million per year — of
which $6.3 million will be
slated for rent, or about
$3,547 in monthly rent
per unit, according to the
Department of Homeless
Services.
By contrast, the building
at 555 Fourth Ave. will
cost $13 million yearly —
$4.6 million in rent, which
amounts to around $3,650
in per month rent for each
unit, according to the Department.
The additional costs
for services and personnel
brings an added
$6,000 on average, per
unit — which the Department
chalked up to high
security costs and pricey
social services. However,
the non-rent cost is more
than double what Women
In Need pays at a similar
shelter in Brownsville,
according to Gothamist .
Women in Need did not
respond to a request for
comment on the discrepancy
between service
costs on the two shelters.
The total cost of each
unit — including rent
and all other overhead expenses
— tops $10,000 per
month.
“As far as I can tell,
this is fraud,” said Samajopoulos.
“This scheme
— because it’s not a deal,
it’s a scheme — needs to
go in the garbage where
it belongs. And the people
who thought it up need to
go to jail where they belong.”
Councilman Brad
Lander (D-Park Slope)
took the microphone at
Tuesday’s meeting to defend
the cost, arguing that
decades of stashing homeless
shelters in lower income
neighborhoods —
where rent prices were
lower — lead to a damning
legacy of perpetual
poverty.
“It had the consequence
of concentrating
homeless shelters in the
lowest income neighborhoods,”
said Lander. “The
decision to pay extra to be
willing to put these shelters
in the full diversity
and array of neighborhoods
in our city — including
the south slope
and including Manhattan
— was a decision made by
the de Blasio administration,
and it is indeed one
that I support.”
But, residents pushed
back — asking why this
developer was chosen to
receive what appears to be
a windfall from the city.
“I would like to know
how these two developers
were chosen to get full
rent, and at full price,”
said Amichaim Abramson.
“I’m all for homeless
shelters — but 3,500 dollars
a month to these developers?
Something feels
very wrong. I would really
like someone to explain
how this happened,
and who negotiated it, because
we can make a better
deal. I’m quite sure of
it.”
Despite the outrage
surrounding the contracts,
many residents
claimed the shelters’ critics
true motivation was
preventing homeless people
from moving in next
door.
“It feels somewhat disingenuous
to come out
against these shelters
just because of some perceived
political corruption
— which there may
be,” said John Alvarez.
“I’m sure that this developer
is greedy, and we can
address that absolutely
positively. I’m 100 percent
on board with holding
those people to task — but
I don’t want to hold homeless
families hostage as a
result.”
Another pro-shelter
speaker simply appealed
to Brooklynites better angels.
“These families and
children are our families
and children,” said
Mark Greenberg of the
Interfaith Assembly on
Homlessness and Housing.
“I know that Brooklynites
have a big heart,
and I know that we can do
this.”
Residents questioned city offi cials about the $10,000-per-unit cost of two planned homeless shelters slated to open on Fourth Avenue in
Park Slope. Google