Uptown Pols United To Stop New Shelter, Congressman Says

WASHINGTON HEIGHTS, NY — Politicians representing Upper Manhattan are united in an attempt to stop the city from opening a controversial 175-bed men's shelter in Washington Heights, Congressman Adriano Espaillat said.

Espaillat, who denounced the shelter during a Monday night rally at the Audubon Avenue site and is planning another demonstration for Saturday, said that he hopes the city will work with elected officials to place the new shelter in a location that is more appropriate. Espaillat said the area near Audubon Avenue and West 179th Street is over saturated with programs such as a methadone clinic and needle exchange, and that adding a men's shelter to the area would be "over the top."

"This is not NIMBY (not in my backyard)," Espaillat told Patch in an interview. "This is a community that is over saturated and has never complained."

The congressman said that an "appropriate" site for a shelter would be somewhere that is less disruptive for existing residents and not located near other service providers or institutions such as schools

Espaillat also accused the city of planning the shelter in "the middle of the night" and criticized a lack of outreach to the local community board and elected officials. The Department of Homeless Services sent notice to the community board and elected officials in February that the shelter would open in the summer or fall of 2019. City officials have previously stated that the notice was made further in advance than on average for new shelters.

The congressman did not rule out a lawsuit to block the shelter from opening if the city does not agree to an alternate location, saying that "all kinds of possibilities" are on the table and that local elected officials will "go as far as we need to go to stop it." The Saturday demonstration against the shelter will be a neighborhood March. The route is not yet finalized with police, Espaillat said.

Two lawsuits to block new shelters in Midtown Manhattan's "Billionaire's Row" and the Upper West Side were recently dismissed by state judges. Opponents of those shelters had many of the same complaints as opponents of the Washington Heights shelter, which doesn't bode well for a lawsuit.

The Audubon Avenue shelter is one of 90 new shelters being built in New York City under Mayor Bill de Blasio's "Turning the Tide" homelessness initiative. The new shelter at Audubon Avenue will give priority to people who were previously residents of Washington Heights before becoming homeless, city officials said. By building shelters in every part of the city, the homeless will not be forced to move out of their home boroughs and can be closer to their support systems or jobs while they seek permanent housing, city officials said.

The city estimates that there are currently 425 households, made up of 862 people, from the Washington Heights and Inwood neighborhoods in the shelter system but only 409 beds located in the area. Of those beds, 120 are located in a commercial hotel that will be phased out through the "Turning the Tide" homelessness initiative, city officials said.

The new shelter will be run by the nonprofit HELP USA, which will offer residents services such as case management, counseling, housing placement and life skills workshops.

Read more about community member's concerns about the shelter here.