Sunset Park Officials Want More Engagement on Local Homeless Shelters

SUNSET PARK, BROOKLYN — The city's Department of Homeless Services (DHS) says it's working to inform Sunset Park community members about its rental of area hotel rooms for homeless individuals, but local officials say more engagement is needed.

A DHS spokesperson told Patch on Wednesday that the agency is currently renting rooms at four hotels in Sunset Park. DHS has also operated a shelter on 49th Street between 2nd Avenue and 3rd Avenue since 2015.

Last week, Jeremy Laufner, the district manager for Community Board 7, which represents Sunset Park, told Patch that DHS was "not reaching out to the community to let us know how they're doing this."

Laufner said that while some residents have complained about excessive noise outside the hotels, he's unaware of any serious safety-related issues. And he stressed that homeless individuals have the same right to housing as anyone else.

Even so, he said DHS's lack of transparency has the effect of "stigmatizing" those housed at the hotels by suggesting they were brought in secretly.

The district manager also called for the city to share a list of area resources with the families so they can "be a part of the community."

Councilman Carlos Menchaca, who represents Sunset Park, has offered a similar take on the matter.

"Residents of areas with homeless services locations deserve to know what’s happening on their blocks," Menchaca said in a statement. "DHS should provide advance notice and ongoing transparency about shelter operations. In the past couple years several hotels in Sunset Park have been fully or partially converted to homeless shelter locations, or worse have been busted for illicit activities and human trafficking."

"I’m committed to working with residents, our Community Board and police precinct, shelter operators and City Agencies to change the pattern of secrecy and surprise that has invariably accompanied these locations," Menchaca continued. "I’m further committed to help residents who sincerely want to help alleviate the suffering of homeless individuals – both those who are placed in shelters, and those we see daily in our parks and on our streets."

“Each day, we are tasked with determining how to meet the City’s legal obligation to house tens of thousands of homeless New Yorkers, including families with children, who would otherwise be on the street," agency spokeswoman Lauren Gray told Patch in a statement. "We’d like to thank the communities, neighbors and businesses working with us to stand by our neighbors as they navigate some of the most difficult situations of their lives.”

The agency is working with CB7 and elected officials on public engagement, a department official said. The official added that the department is developing an informational brochure in conjunction with Menchaca's office that will provide information to homeless individuals on area school programs, transportation, recreation, parks, cultural activities, and other information.

Menchaca's chief of staff, David Estrada, confirmed that the brochure was in the works, adding that it's being modeled on a guide an area resident developed to help homeless individuals she works with.

Estrada said the guide would help "a mother and young children seeking shelter in a neighborhood they don’t know," as well as "a different mother with children, this time a resident of the neighborhood encountering a homeless person and wanting to know how to help."

Pictured at top: the former Sleep Inn on 49th Street, before it was converted into a homeless shelter. Image via Google Maps