At Crown Heights Shelter Meeting, Cheering, Swearing And Booing Over Rogers Ave. Proposal

CROWN HEIGHTS, BROOKLYN — Elected officials, shelter operators and community leaders got together Thursday inside a Crown Heights school for a "town hall meeting" about a homeless shelter the city plans to open at 267 Rogers Ave., on the corner of Crown Street, that will house 132 families with children.

After two and a half hours of swearing, cheering, booing and even one Patch shoutout from an elected official, it was clear that the community remains deeply opposed to the proposed shelter.

Scroll down to see Patch's live updates from the meeting. And to keep up with this ever-developing story, along with other Crown Heights news, click here to sign up for Patch's daily newsletter and free, real-time news alerts.

First a primer, if you haven't been following this story:

• This shelter is one of the first of 90 that the mayor wants to open under an ambitious plan to curb homelessness in the city by cutting down on "cluster" sites and hotels.
• Residents are upset for several reasons: They feel like they didn't get enough of a heads-up that the shelter was coming; they say their neighborhood is overburdened with shelters, especially compared to communities such as Park Slope or Brooklyn Heights; and they'd rather see the building go toward permanent, low-income housing.
• Another shelter under this plan was set to open last month on Bergen St., between New York and Brooklyn avenues, but a judge temporarily blocked it from opening after residents sued and said it violated the city's "Fair Share" act, which governs homeless shelter placement.

And some more background reading:

• Crown Heights Neighbors 'Betrayed' By Electeds Who Didn't Tell Them About Homeless Shelter
• Councilwoman Tells De Blasio To Keep His Homeless Plan Out Of Crown Heights
• In Crown Heights, A Basement Uprising Against City's 'Shock' Homeless Shelter Plan
• New Brooklyn Homeless Shelter Blocked By Judge, Derailing Mayor's Big Rollout

LIVE UPDATES BELOW

6:05 p.m.

Folks are still filing in from the soggy streets outside, and various groups are passing out some literature before we get started in earnest.

One is from Assemblyman Walter Mosley, whose district technically starts across the street from the shelter.

"While it is an admirable goal to try to keep families in their communities," the statement says, "an additional homeless shelter in Crown Heights, an area already packed with shelters, is not a long term solution to the homelessness crisis our city is facing."

6:25 p.m.

We're finally getting started here, with CB9 Chair Musa Moore giving an introduction. He's speaking to a decent crowd of maybe 100 or a few more.

In addition to the officials scheduled to be here, U.S. Rep Yvette Clarke and Mosley's office both have representatives here.

6:28 p.m.

Rev. Daryl G. Bloodsaw is the first speaker here. He will be moderating the meeting and says he and First Baptist Church of Crown Heights "stands on the side of supporting this development."

Here's a partial look at the crowd:

6:34 p.m.

Sen. Jesse Hamilton is here in person. He starts with the Bedford-Union Armory: "We still haven't gotten the financials for the project."

And on homeless shelters: "Why are we spending $3,000 a month for shelter housing? It makes no sense."

"Let's go to Brooklyn Heights, let's go to Park Slope, let's go to Carroll Gardens. Let's go to neighborhoods that don't have any." That gets the anti-shelter crowd riled up, cheering as he names off majority white and affluent neighborhoods.

"I'll file a lawsuit, if it needs to be done," he says, to cheers of "lawsuit! lawsuit!"

6:40 p.m.

Assemblywoman Diana Richardson is also here in person. "Half of you found out about the shelter because of that video."

Richardson then calls out "a Patch.com article" from yesterday about notice from elected officials. "Many of you were in the newspaper wondering about, 'Why didn’t my elected official notify me?' I am not your elected official," she says, referring to the assembly districts that the shelter straddles.

While the shelter is technically on her side of the assembly district, she says, the Crown Street Block Association, who held the basement meeting, is on the other side.

6:48 p.m.

Now Richardson is calling out Councilwoman Laurie Cumbo (who, we note, sat down right next to us).

"There's power, and then there's influence," she says.

"Do you know who has the power? Laurie, you have it," she adds, noting the armory is a city project.

6:52 p.m.

After Richardson finishes her 10-plus-minute speech, Cumbo comes up to the stage. She defends herself and her role (or lack thereof) in this shelter plan.

"The way the administration works, homeless shelters are out of our domain," she says. "The mayor decides without any consultation with the elected officials when and where they place shelters."

On the Bedford-Union Armory, she says she has told the mayor no. "We will now hear what the mayor will put forward in terms of resources and how this project can be approved."

"Kill the deal!" people shout from across the room, and boos and jeers rain down.

Dion Ashman, a long-time resident and ever the community peace-keeper, stands up and implores the crowd to stay quiet and listen so the meeting can continue. The crowd, largely, obliges.

7 p.m.

The audience Q&A finally starts. Before anyone gets up, Moore implores civility. "Let's focus. You have questions, we want answers."

Bloodsaw, the reverend who will moderate tonight, says "we have a hard stop at 8:00" and asks people to keep the time on the mic to two minutes per person.

7:05 p.m.

Rabbi Jacob Goldstein is up first to speak, but noted neighborhood rabble-rouser Alicia Boyd grabs the mic on the other side of the room to be the first.

She calls out Cumbo and says "we have to stop the bulls---. Get these elected officials the f--- out."

"It's gotta get ghetto like that," she says before the mic is taken away from her.

"Now we know what not to do," Bloodsaw says.

7:07 p.m.

Goldstein is now, actually, up.

"How do you expect to have a family of four or five in a tiny place?" He says and asks what the square footage of the apartments will be and asks for more information about financials on the project.

Daniel Tietz with DHS says, "This is a brand new building. These units are consistent with what the state office requires, in terms of kitchens and square feet."

"Answer the question" people shout.

Karen Ford from Samaritan Village says the square footage ranges from 450 for a one-bedroom and "700 or 720" for a 3-bedroom.

7:15 p.m.

Ashman is up now, and he declines to use a mic. He asks DHS how many beds there will be once the number of shelters in the neighborhood are reduced to four.

Tietz says after five to seven years, "Possibly 90 more over the current."

Ashman then calls out Lincoln Restler, an aide to the mayor in the crowd. After noting that Restler won't return his calls, Ashman asks Restler about the disparity in shelter beds among neighborhoods.

Restler says the plan is designed to keep people in the communities where they grow up. And, Restler says, "The mayor has said in his home community of Park Slope, there will be additional shelter beds."

And he did, we will note, apologize for not returning Ashman's calls.

7:20 p.m.

Peter Velez says this plan "is a spit in the face of this community."

His questions: "What happens to the families after one year? And what happens to people in the shelters that are closing?" And finally: "Why do you think it's OK to do this to people? To put upon them instead of talking to them?"

Karen Ford, from Samaritan Village, says the shelter is not designed to be permanent housing and that people in the shelter will go through programs to find a permanent home.

7:25 p.m.

The Q&A sesh is put on pause for a second, because Public Advocate Letitia James is here. She, too, declines to use a microphone.

"I stand with this community. You're right," she says. "The reality is is that this community has been dumped on. We have taken in our fair share. But the reality is is that the law is on the side of the amdinistration." But, she notes, some have been successful in courts.

James also shouts out the embattled Cumbo and her plan for permanent, low-income housing on the site. Cumbo gets a modest applause.

7:28 p.m.

We're back to the people. Heather Coppin asks how the shelter will be beneficial "to our community."

Ford says Samaritan Village will establish a "community advisory board." And she notes that people in the shelter will come from Crown Heights and get "employment opportunities."

Doug Apple, the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at Samaritan Village, adds that the facility will have meeting space the the community board, local churches or other organizations could use.

7:39 p.m.

Warren King said he moved to Crown Heights seven years ago and says he spent several years in homeless shelters before that.

He asks, "Why do you want to build a shelter right there, you could have built a YMCA or something?" and says he's tired of "my taxpayer dollars being invested in nothing."

7:45 p.m.

Valerie Figueroa, an executive with St. Johns Family Center, is the first pro-shelter voice on the mic tonight. "For the community, it's important that we work together with the shelters." She adds: "There are good things going on, but we do need the support of the community."

7:48 p.m.

James Caldwell says the "I'm not against homeless shelters, but I don't want them here language" isn't helpful. "This is hurtful to our children, especially to the black family," he says.

"We are a community that always shows compassion."

7:52 p.m.

James Woods jumps up on the mic and says the affordable housing system is "bogus."

"You all are put on notice. If you are in office, you may not be there next year."

7:53 p.m.

Sam Clark, who says he's worked in the community for over 25 years, is in support of the shelter. "Give this thing a chance. Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater. Crown Heights has a better heart than this."

7:59 p.m.

Pat Baker asks how many more shelters are going to come into the neighborhood.

Tietz says, "We couldn't agree more that there hadn't been a comprehensive plan" to address homelessness, taking a pot shot at former Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Write this one down, the closer from Tietz: "We have zero plans to add any more shelters than the ones that have been announced."

8:04 p.m.

A representative from Assemblyman Walter Mosley's office admits that the community notification here was "not effective" but is working on a plan to address this process, "so that no one gets blindsided like they did here."

8:07 p.m.

A student from Medgar Evers College asks, "Did you ever consider the proximity of the shelter" to the college when making the plan? She and a rowdy group of students in the crowd want the building to be turned into affordable dormitory space.

Nobody opts to answer, and the Q&A continues.

8:10 p.m.

Roger Daily says he lives in a Brownstone owned by his 50-year-Crown Heights resident aunt. He asks, "How are you vetting the residents who are coming in to the shelter?"

Tietz says, "there will not be residency-restricted sex offenders at this location."

And Hylton details the "intake" process that starts at the DHS center in the Bronx.

8:15 p.m.

Angel Sada, another student from Medgar Evers College, presses Cumbo on the request-for-proposals process on the shelter.

Cumbo agrees that "We need to have a transparent and fair process."

8:19 p.m.

We're going out with a bang. A woman asks Samaritan Village how much the rents will be at the shelter. After Apple says that is still being negotiated, an answer that the audience is not happy with.

Ashman takes the mic with a document he says shows that the city is pouring $43 million into the shelter and the audience erupts.

8:21 p.m.

As Bloodsaw shuts the meeting down, one last person is on the mic asking about Park Slope and other neighborhoods. We will never know his full thoughts.

Thanks for following along tonight! We are told that, while the majority of people who got to speak were anti-shelter, there were three local school principals in attendance who were signed up to speak in favor of the shelter that didn't get to because of time constraints.

And, again, to follow along with Patch's homeless shelter coverage (which we know your elected officials are reading!), click here to subscribe to our daily newsletter and free, real-time news alerts for Prospect Heights, Crown Heights and PLG.

All images via Marc Torrence, Patch Staff