Crown Heights Homeless Shelter Remains In Limbo After Judge Cancels Hearing

DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN, NY — The city still can't move any more homeless families into a new shelter in Crown Heights after a court hearing scheduled for Friday afternoon was cancelled.

A group of about 30 or so Crown Heights residents — who are suing the city on the grounds that their neighborhood is unfairly overburdened with homeless shelters — showed up to Brooklyn Supreme Court for the 2 p.m. hearing only to be told by their attorney that it had been cancelled.

"There will be no hearing this afternoon," Rawle Pantaleon, the attorney, told the group.

Pantaleon said he heard from the court's attorney that Brooklyn Supreme Court Judge Katherine A. Levine returned from the Shavuot holiday and "wasn’t feeling well this afternoon." So the hearing was cancelled, he said and a stay against the property remains in effect. You can read Levine's decision below.

However, a clerk for Levine, David Karopkin, told Patch on Saturday after this article was published that was not the case. Both sides were told on May 30 that the hearing would be cancelled, Karopkin said, because Pataleon did not submit court papers by a May 25 deadline, and Levine did not receive the city's response until the eve of the Shavuot holiday.

Pantaleon told Patch he did not miss a court deadline.

Another hearing on the case is scheduled for Friday, June 9 at 2:30 p.m.

"We remain confident that this matter will be resolved quickly, so that 122 additional homeless families with children will have same opportunity to get back on their feet as the ten families already residing at this location," Isaac McGinn, a spokesman for the city's Department of Homeless Services, said in an emailed statement to Patch.

"Working in partnership with service provider Samaritan Village and the community, we’re confident that these families will be welcomed and supported as neighbors when we move forward."

The shelter opened May 15, and 10 families moved in; a day later, the residents sued. Levine put a temporary restraining order on the property, allowing the 10 families who had moved in to stay there but forbidding the city and shelter operator Samaritan Daytop Village from moving anyone else in.

The city also lost an appeal last week to move more families in while the case continues.

READ MORE:

• Judge Dismisses Lawsuit Against One Brooklyn Homeless Shelter; Other Remains Blocked
• City Loses Appeal To Move More Families Into Brooklyn Shelter While Court Case Continues

Image: Patch file photos

Editor's note: This article has been updated to reflect information from the court about the reason for the cancelled hearing.