6 FEBRUARY 6, 2020 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Opponents of Glendale shelter rally as
From left Councilman Robert Holden and Mike Papa address the crowd at a rally against the proposed homeless shelter on Cooper Avenue.
Photos by Dean Moses
BY MAX PARROTT
MPARROTT@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
@QNS
The Glendale Middle Village
Coalition (GMVC) rallied with
opponents of the proposed
homeless shelter at 78-16 Cooper Ave.
in Glendale Jan. 31 aft er the group received
word that its selected service
provider Westhab was having a job
fair on the same day.
Shelter critic Mike Papa led the
rally, claiming that it would be illegal
to turn the building to turn
the factory into a transient lodging
house, and suggesting to the crowd
that Mayor Bill de Blasio’s push for
the shelter constitutes participation
in a racketeering scheme.
“What is being organized here is
nothing short of organized crime
and Mayor de Blasio is the head of
the family,” said Papa. “They have
illegally converted this abandoned
contaminated former industrial
manufacturing site into what they
hope will be $62.5 million cash cow
via a proposed five-year contract
from the Department of Homeless
Services.”
The contract’s value was previously
reported at $61.8 million. QNS
reached out to the Department of
Homeless Services for clarification
on the amount, and is awaiting a
response.
Papa then suggested that Westhab
and construction firm Liberty One
were holding a job fair because the
contractors know that the “the fix is
in.” At one point, several protesters
heckled potential applicants as they
filed into the facility for the job fair.
DHS has not yet made a final
decision on whether to approve the
five-year contract for the facility,
but a spokesperson did chime in on
Friday’s protest, claiming that their
goal with the job fair was to hire
locally.
“We’re all for debate and dialogue
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