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COURIER L 14 IFE, MAY 31–JUNE 6, 2019 PS
SIGN OF SCORN: Locals created a petition to protest two homeless shelters planned for
Fourth Avenue. Google
SHELTERS
had exceeded its commitment to provide
30-days notice of shelter openings
by several months.
But many locals said they were
caught off guard by the shelter announcement,
and the audience repeatedly
booed presenters, including Jackie
Bray, fi rst deputy commissioner at the
Department of Homeless Services, and
former City Council Speaker Christine
Quinn, who heads up the non-profi t organization
that will operate the shelters,
called Win.
The petition states locals have serious
concerns about the density of the
proposed shelters, although Lander
noted earlier this month that the two
buildings — originally intended as
market-rate rentals — would have attracted
the same amount of people under
their original use, only wealthier.
And the proposed Fourth Avenue
shelters are not the largest in Brooklyn,
according to a spokeswoman for
the Department of Social Services, who
noted that Win operates two neighboring
shelters that serve a combined 412
families elsewhere in the borough.
Kapoor goes on to claim via the petition
that Fourth Avenue between Prospect
Avenue and Ninth Street has become
a dumping ground for the city’s
social and environmental problems,
and is already host to a Department of
Sanitation garage and waste-transfer
station, the Department of Transportation’s
noxious Hamilton Avenue asphalt
plant, and the Gowanus Parole
Center, making the addition of two
massive shelters unbearable.
None of those facilities, however,
are actually located on Fourth Avenue;
both the sanitation garage and
parole center are located on Second
Avenue, while the asphalt plant and
waste-transfer station are on Hamilton
Avenue.
One thing omitted from the petition
are concerns over the shelter’s effects on
nearby property values, but Kapoor — a
condo owner — admitted that issue remains
a source of worry for her, and her
neighbors, despite claims Bray made at
the May 1st meeting that shelters do not
affect the value of neighboring homes.
“Even though in the town hall they
said historically there’s no data that
shows property values aren’t effected
by shelters, the fact is there’s very little
date on this type of huge… we’re not
talking about one shelter, we’re talking
about two huge shelters near our
properties,” Kapoor said. “Theres no
doubt this will have a negative impact
on the property value.”
Kapoor is a women’s rights activist
and founder of Sayfty, an advocacy
group that promotes programs and initiatives
that protect women against domestic
violence and rape. She said she
see’s no confl ict in advocating against
the shelters, despite its intended purpose
of serving mostly women and
children, claiming restrictions that
prevent families from stay more than
a year will prevent them from making
meaningful connections within the
community, and from getting the services
they need.
“I’m all for helping and empowering
women, but I don’t see this as a
way of empowering women and families,”
she said. “The city hasn’t given
us enough reason and information on
how they’re helping them out.”
The petition’s claim that shelter
residents get the boot after one year is
not true, according to a spokeswoman
for the Department of Social Services,
who said that all homeless New Yorkers
have the right to shelter for as long
as they need it.
The city will host a public contract
hearing on June 27, where the Mayor’s
Offi ce of Contract Services will share
a fi nal draft version of the city’s agreement
with the developer before it’s
signed.
Continued from cover
/PCRICHARD.COM