Hell’s Kitchen
residents
demand that
city strengthen
homeless
services
BY DEAN MOSES
The newly formed Hell’s
Kitchen Neighborhood
Coalition (HKNC) assembled
at the corner of 9th
Avenue and 38th street on
Oct. 19 to demand action from
the NYPD and Mayor Bill de
Blasio following his six-month
extension of the temporary hotel
shelter program.
Hell’s Kitchen has become a
designated homeless shelter zone,
where thousands of individuals
have been cramped into a few
square blocks after so many locations
have repudiated their presence.
Many residents in the area
say they welcome the homeless
services but argue this situation
has become over-saturated and a
danger to all.
“We are a neighborhood that
does not say no. We welcome social
services. We welcome people
who have had diffi cult times in
their lives, but they are not being
served and our neighbors are not
being served,” said Joe Restuccia,
a Hell’s Kitchen Neighborhood
Coalition member and executive
director of the Clinton Housing
Development Company.
HKNC was recently formed
to respond to this public safety
crisis. The coalition, which is
made up of residents and business
owners, are calling for action after
they claim the homeless hotel
guests have been running roughshod
over the neighborhood for
months, engaging in fi stfi ghts and
blatant drug consumption.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic,
many empty hotels are being
used as makeshift shelters in
an attempt to control the spread.
While New York City now has
record-low infection rates, the
adverse effect of this program has
many local tenants and employees
Maria Ortiz speaks at the Hell’s Kitchen Neighborhood Coalition press conference on Oct. 19,
2020.
feeling terrifi ed to leave their
homes after encountering hordes
of their new neighbors, and the
carnage left in their wake.
As the meeting commenced,
Brian Weber, a member of the
coalition and co-chair of the
36-Street block association,
weaved between the crowd
showcasing a video on his phone,
depicting a brawl that had spilled
from the lobby of Hotel Central
on West 36th Street and into the
road.
“It started when the security
was in a verbal altercation with
a man in front of the shelter,
security threw the fi rst punch,”
said Weber. “There happened to
be police nearby who ran to the
scene and broke it up. I see lots
of verbal altercations. But what
I usually see is drug use out my
window. I see men injecting other
men—quite honestly, I view most
of the world out of my window
because it is just not safe to go
out on my street. I haven’t used
the sidewalk in months. If I have
to go out, I walk in traffi c.”
Residents say they’re tired of
individuals handling and selling
illegal substances. Many in the
coalition feel that the increased
amount of beds in the area are
just too large in contrast to the
comparatively small community.
Maria Ortiz is a lifelong resident,
social worker, and member
of HKNC, who has lived in shelters
herself. She expressed empathy
for the temporary inhabitants
but also claimed the situation is a
public safety concern.
“On 37th and 36th Street,
we have over 800 folks that
have high social service needs.
On 36th Street, over 500 have
already been added there from
the 800, and there is already
a bed facility there. In Hell’s
Kitchen and Chelsea, we already
PHOTOS BY DEAN MOSES
have about 2,300 beds for folks
that live in shelters or homeless
supportive housing. With the
temporary shelter location sites,
we have about 1,800-2,000 beds
in the community, so there is an
over saturation in the community
especially on 37th and 36th
Street,” Ortiz said.
Like Ortiz, many of the coalition
participants believe that
instead of offering humane care,
Hell’s Kitchen has become a
dumping ground where close to
4,000 people are now jam-packed
in one location.
“The biggest issue is really how
it is impacting the community; it
is a safety crisis right now. There
are things you can see occurring
on the street that you can see on
a daily basis. For example, aggressive
behavior towards the shelter
residents themselves, aggressive
behavior towards the permanent
residents, towards local business
owners, drug use and drug sales,”
Ortiz added.
According to statement from
HKNC, “Prior to the COVID-19
crisis, there were 1,010 homeless
shelter beds and 1,302 homeless
supportive housing apartments
in Manhattan Community Board
4. Since May, DHS has added
another 1,830 shelter beds in the
district.”
This crisis has caused an
ever-deepening rift between those
permanently residing in the area
and the temporary guests. The
press conference turned hostile
when speakers were heckled by
homeless individuals in the area.
4 October 22, 2020 Schneps Media