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Dec. 21-27, 2018 Your Neighborhood — Your News® 75 cents
THE NEWSPAPER OF FLUSHING, AUBURNDALE, KEW GARDENS HILLS & FRESH MEADOWS
College Pt. shelter meeting upsets residents
Heated town hall with Department of Homeless Services fails to provide answers
BY JENNA BAGCAL
The Department of Homeless
Services (DHS) faced the residents
of College Point at a shelter town
hall meeting Monday night that
left protesters with more questions
than answers.
Hundreds of residents filled the
auditorium at PS 29 on Dec. 18 to
see what DHS had to say about the
impending single-men’s shelter at
127-03 27th Ave. Dozens more people
who could not get into the ticketed
event once the venue reached
capacity waited outside in the cold,
as the entrance was guarded by local
police officers.
DHS representatives were
joined by nonprofit homeless services
provider Westhab for the
town hall. Much of the information
— including the number of
beds and shelter security — had
already been shared by DHS First
Deputy Commissioner Jackie
Bray at the College Point Civic Association
meeting weeks before.
Protesters, which included
College Point residents as well as
neighbors in Whitestone, Flushing
and Bayside were asked to sign
up to ask questions and responses
from DHS and Westhab elicited
“boos” and jeering from the crowd
of irate residents.
“Those who are most vulnerable
amongst us need somewhere
to lay their head, they need somewhere
College Point residents made sure their concerns were heard at the town hall with DHS.
to receive services, they
need somewhere with people who
are committed to their second
chance,” said Bray.
College Point resident Denise
Zayas — who is legally blind — said
she does not feel safe with a homeless
shelter being put up in the community.
“Westhab isn’t answering 911
calls and I do not feel that you can
keep us safe,” Zayas said. “So it’s
not fear that you’re hearing, it’s anger
at the fact that no one consulted
us.”
“DHS has an incredibly tight
relationship with the NYPD. Our
security is managed and overseen
by the NYPD,” said Bray,
who added that the agency coordinates
with local precincts and
police officers for all of their shelters.
Vice chair of Community
Board 7 Chuck Apelian questioned
the legality of the shelter
being built in a manufacturing
district.
Photo by Jenna Bagcal
“You’re building this in a manufacturing
district. It’s an M1 and
in a manufacturing district, residential
use is not allowed at all,”
said Apelian.
“Transient use is allowed in
an M1 zone. This is transient use,”
said Bray. “We have opened shelters
for years in M1 zones and DOB
Department of Buildings has approved
them for years. What we’re
doing is consistent with that”
Local politicians in attendance
at Monday night’s town hall included
City Councilman Paul Vallone,
state Assemblyman Dan Rosenthal
and state Senator-elect John Liu,
who, until yesterday, had been noticeably
absent from shelter rallies
and conversations.
The former New York City
comptroller said he was concerned
with the economics involved in
opening up the shelter after Bray
shared that the entire shelter contract
would cost approximately
$9 million annually. This would
include housing each shelter
resident, services, maintenance,
transportation and employee salaries.
“Somebody is making a lot
of money off this deal,” said Liu.
“People understand that there is
a homeless crisis going on in this
city, but you gotta do a better job.
And you gotta think about how
many more people you would have
been able to serve with the $9 million
if you had put it in a more efficient
location and made sure that
the deals were put together in the
right format.”
“You guys are here, sent by the
mayor, to take the bullets for him,”
Liu added. “Well, you know what?
We’re not blaming you personally,
but the city has to be held accountable
for this.”
Residents have been protesting
against the shelter since October
when Vallone confirmed that it
would be coming to College Point.
Vol. 27, No. 51 56 total pages
MD1CARE Gold Pediatrics is now open in Bayside.
MARIGOLD CASTILLO, MD, FAAP
42-05 Francis Lewis Blvd
Bayside, NY 11361
(718) MD1-CARE www.MD1CARE.nyc
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