6 AUGUST 29, 2019 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Two homeless havens for R’wood & Glen.
BY MARK HALLUM
MHALLUM@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
@RIDGEWOODTIMES
The Department of Homeless
Services (DHS) is not only
proceeding with its years-long
plan to open a Glendale shelter, but
will also open a facility in Ridgewood
for homeless residents, the agency
told QNS.
News of the Glendale plan broke
on Thursday night, as Councilman
Robert Holden took to Facebook to
announce that the DHS informed
him of their plans for 78-16 Cooper
Ave., a once dormant factory
which has undergone extensive
renovation in recent months.
The DHS confirmed to QNS that
they will, in fact, open two shelters
in the Community Board 5 district
over the next year.
The Cooper Avenue site will
house 200 single individuals
who are currently employed or
seeking employment and open in
early 2020.
Holden said in an Aug. 23 press
release that Westhab, a service
provider based in Westchester
County, will operate the Glendale
shelter. “A significant portion of
the men housed at the shelter will
be from the now–closed Maspeth
Holiday Inn temporary shelter, per
DHS,” according to Holden’s office.
The Ridgewood locat ion,
located at a former factory at 1616
Summerfield St., will house 132
families with children with a late
2020 opening date.
Priority at both locations will
be given to those originally from
Community Board 5, most of which
is represented by Holden, who are
experiencing hardship, DHS said.
“Homeless New Yorkers come
from every community across the
five boroughs, so we need every
community to come together to
address homelessness,” a DHS
statement read. “With zero
shelters in Queens Community
District 5, these sites will give
individuals and families with
children the opportunity to get
back on their feet closer to their
anchors of life. Working together
with neighbors and not-for-profit
service provider partners, we’re
confident that these New Yorkers
will be warmly welcomed — and
through collaborative support and
compassion, we will make this the
best experience it can be for these
individuals as they get back on
their feet.”
Holden claimed that he and
others would rally against the plan
to provide services to about 330 in
southwestern Queens, which DHS
claims has no full service shelters
at this point in time.
This location at 1616 Summerfi eld St. in Ridgewood is slated to house 132 homeless families, according to the
Department of Homeless Services. Google Street View
“I along with other elected have
just been informed by DHS that
they intend on moving forward
with a shelter in Glendale,” Holden
said on Twitter. “We’ll be meeting
with community leaders/members
in the coming days to start
planning how we as a community
wi l l fight against this
irresponsible decision.”
A furious Holden blasted the city
on Aug. 23 for not considering his
alternate plan to build a school on
the site instead of a shelter.
“I am disgusted with the way City
Hall does business when it comes to
housing the homeless,” said Holden.
“I presented a strong plan to have a
new District 75 school built on the
Cooper Avenue property and I was
told by all involved city agencies
that this was an ideal solution. But
as soon as DOE Chancellor Richard
Carranza got involved, he decided it
would be better to continue wasting
our tax dollars and let the District
75 special needs students suffer in
a century-old building surrounded
by heavy truck traffic.”
Holden was a driving force in
the protests against homeless
shelters in Queens during the 2016
demonstrations in the midst of a
homelessness crisis. Since then,
he has used that influence, in
part, to successful unseat former
Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley
in November 2017.
“I tried to fight against this shelter
the right way, by negotiating with
city agencies and coming up with
reasonable proposals, only to have
the rug pulled out from under me,”
added Holden on Friday. “I’m sick of
playing this game with City Hall, so
now I will fight back the best way
I know how, with my neighbors by
my side.”
Among the complaints against
shelters in nearly any part of
the borough, critics often point
to the proximity of facilities to
schools or cite the areas lack
of accommodations such as
transportation or grocery stores.
State Senator Joseph Addabbo
also vowed to oppose what he
deemed to be “large-scale” shelters
in favor of smaller facilities he
views as more appropriate for the
community.
“With my district on the verge
of having Mayor De Blasio place a
fourth large population of homeless
men within its boundaries, most
recently proposed for Glendale,
I will continue to oppose larger
scaled shelters with limited services
and inadequate transportation,
while advocating for smaller, more
community-appropriate sites that
would better serve the homeless
individuals in need,” Addabbo
said. “What about utilizing cityowned
sites and properties for
cost-efficient modular housing as
done in other states? What about
developing abandoned zombie
homes and providing a better
living environment for homeless
families, especially the children?
I guess after witnessing five years
of the De Blasio administration’s
treatment of the homeless crisis,
we may never know the answers.”
As a counterbalance to the
approach taken by critics, Catherine
Trapani at Homeless Services
United stood by the mayor’s plan
to provide widespread support for
the homeless population.
“Every New Yorker in need has
the right to safe, quality shelter
and every community must share
in ensuring that right is upheld,”
Trapani said. “Homeless Services
United stands with homeless
families and individuals and looks
forward to continued progress
on the mayor’s plan to transform
the shelter system and open new
facilities when and where they
are needed.”
Josh Goldfein at Coalition for the
Homeless also issued a statement
of support for the shelters which
would situate residents closer
family, friends and employment.
“Our clients come from every
corner of the city and until there
is enough affordable housing for
everyone, they are going to need
shelter in their communities,
where they have support networks
and jobs and medical care.”
DHS, through service providers,
will not only give residents on-site
mental health and medical services,
24/7 security with a minimum of
two guards will also be in place.
According to DHS, there are
over 8,100 homeless from Queens
currently living in shelters.
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