Fate Of Crown Heights Homeless Shelter Could Be Decided Friday

CROWN HEIGHTS, BROOKLYN — A group of Crown Heights residents who are suing the city to block the opening of a homeless shelter planned for their neighborhood will be back in court on Friday, when a judge could make a final decision about whether the shelter can open.

Brooklyn Supreme Court Judge Katherine Levine asked the city to come to a compromise with over two dozen individuals and two block associations who sued and said their neighborhood is unfairly overburdened with homeless shelters compared to the rest of Brooklyn.

The planned shelter, at 1173 Bergen St., was originally supposed to open in March but has been barred from doing so as this case makes its way through the courts.

At a hearing last week, Levine asked the city to show that it considered sites in places like Park Slope and Brooklyn Heights, where there are fewer shelters, before it decided to open another one in Crown Heights.

The Crown Heights shelter is one of 90 Mayor Bill de Blasio wants to open over the next five years as he closes hotel and "cluster" sites.

It's also one of two planned for Crown Heights under the plan. The city is scheduled to open another one on Rogers Avenue in southern Crown Heights; residents there are said to be considering a lawsuit of their own to block its opening.

Mayor Bill de Blasio said on the radio this week that the Park Slope area will eventually increase its homeless shelter capacity.

Image via Marc Torrence, Patch Staff