WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES AUGUST 8, 2019 3
Holden: Homeless men out of Maspeth hotel
BY MARK HALLUM
MHALLUM@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
@RIDGEWOODTIMES
Residents of Maspeth opposed
to the use of hotels as homeless
shelters may be happy to
learn that “working homeless” have
been removed from the Holiday Inn
Express, according to Councilman
Robert Holden.
Holden’s office put out a release on
Aug. 2 claiming that the relocation of
the homeless residents from the hotel
at 59-40 55th Rd. was revealed in a
discussion the lawmaker had with
Department of Homeless Services
(DHS) Commissioner Steve Banks.
“I will continue to work with
local faith-based organizations to
come up with solutions for housing
our neighbors who have fallen on
hard times,” Holden said. “Smaller,
more personal settings are the
most effective way for us to take
care of our own, as the mayor
has requested.”
According to Holden, the property
owner, KCM Realty Company, filed a
lawsuit in Queens Supreme Court in
which it was ruled that the operator
of the hotel, New Ram Realty, as well
as DHS and service provider Acacia
Network, were violating the terms
of the lease.
Not only that, but to house a large
number of people for more than 30
days was violation of the zoning,
according to Holden.
In an email to QNS, DHS spokesman
Isaac McGinn did not confirm or
deny the hotel is no longer being
used as a shelter, but forwarded
this statement:
“As we’ve said, we remain
committed to ending the use of
decades-old stop-gap measures that
don’t deliver the quality of services
our clients deserve—and we remain
focused on continuing to site new
high-quality facilities in communities
across all five boroughs, so that New
Yorkers who fall on hard times have
the opportunity to get back on their
feet closer to the communities they
called home.”
Controversy surrounded the
use of hotels as shelters starting in
2016 when the Juniper Park Civic
Association under the leadership
of Holden at the time performed
protests outside the Holiday
Inn Express.
The arguments against housing
homeless in certain communities
have ranged from hotels not being
suitable for families or individuals in
recovery to neighborhoods lacking
resources for homeless people to
proximity to schools.
But the de Blasio administration
launched a push to house the city’s
most indigent as it came to light that
there was a homeless crisis with
the population ranging anywhere
between 60,000 to 70,000.
Part of this push was a 2017 pledge
by the de Blasio administration to
phase out the use of hotel conversions
by 2019 paired with the Turning the
Tide on Homelessness initiative.
Turning the Tide aims to places
shelters in communities where
homeless individuals come from
in order to help them maintain ties
to family.
The Holiday Inn Express at 59-40 55th Road in Maspeth.
Photo: Holiday Inn Maspeth
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