Judge Blocks Crown Heights Homeless Shelter From Adding Any More Families

CROWN HEIGHTS, BROOKLYN — A Brooklyn judge has blocked any more people from moving in to a controversial homeless shelter in Crown Heights, just a day after the first 10 families arrived at the facility.

The shelter, on the corner of Rogers Avenue and Crown Street, officially opened on Monday, and a group of people who live near it sued the city on Tuesday, saying their neighborhood is unfairly overburdened by homeless shelters.

Brooklyn Supreme Court Judge Donald S. Kurtz issued a temporary restraining order against the site on Tuesday evening. A hearing will be held on Thursday afternoon.

"The doors are open at 267 Rogers, with ten families now residing there — and additional families excited to move into the location this week," Isaac McGinn, a spokesman for the Department of Homeless Services, told Patch on Tuesday night in an emailed statement. "We’re confident this matter will be resolved shortly so that we can give homeless families with children the opportunity to be sheltered in this high-quality facility as they stabilize their lives."

The city issued a temporary certificate of occupancy for the building on Monday, records show, which will expire next Monday, May 22.

"Additional families will move into this location gradually over the next few weeks," McGinn had told Patch earlier in the day Tuesday, before the lawsuit. "Working in partnership with service provider Samaritan Village and the community, we're confident that our clients will be warmly welcomed to the neighborhood—and that, together, with support and compassion, we will make this the best experience it can be for these families as they get back on their feet."

The shelter is one of two sites that had drawn the scorn of people in Crown Heights, who said their neighborhood had too many shelters compared to places such as Park Slope or Brooklyn Heights.

The other shelter, on Bergen Street in the northern part of the neighborhood, was fought in court but residents there on Monday appeared close to a deal that would allow it to eventually open.

Both shelters are part of Mayor Bill de Blasio's plan to open 90 new facilities across the city, while ending the use of "cluster" sites and hotels. Five of those 90 locations have been announced so far, with two shelters open in the Bronx and another in Prospect Heights.

Crown Heights residents near the Rogers Avenue shelter made their fury known, first through a basement meeting of friends and neighbors and then a larger public meeting in a school gymnasium.

Elected officials, including City Councilwoman Laurie Cumbo, joined them, saying they'd rather see the site go toward permanent, low-income housing. Last week, Cumbo, along with state Senator Jesse Hamilton and reps. Diana Richardson and Walter Mosley, signed onto a letter asking the city to move the city elsewhere and turn the building on the corner into affordable housing.

In an emailed statement, Cumbo reiterated her call for affordable housing instead of the shelter solution that she called a"revolving door."

"Despite calling for the de Blasio Administration to repurpose 267 Rogers Avenue and provide a Fair Share report, the City has opened this residence without sharing its potential impact to the surrounding community," Cumbo said.

"I want to commend the tremendous work of the Crown Street Block Association for working diligently to secure a temporary restraining order against 267 Rogers Avenue as a transitional residence, which would only undermine our collective efforts to provide stability and ongoing support for the 132 families. After being priced out and uprooted from their communities, it is imperative that we move forward in a conscientious manner that addresses community concerns without compromising the ten families who have already moved in."

Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams told Patch on Tuesday that he's "supportive of homeless finding a place to stay" whether "it’s on Rogers Avenue or on my block. Homeless should have a place to sleep. So I don’t want to be attached to one location. That’s not what my pursuit is."

Adams added: "I thought it was a bad decision to start out in the most heavily saturated area. But after I voiced that to the mayor, I’m not going to spend the rest of that time debating that conversation, because we have real needs for homeless people. I’m hoping that as we move forward, we identify where the other 85 shelters are going so people can know that and engage the communities."

This story will be updated.

Image via Marc Torrence, Patch Staff