Toby pushing for kitchens at shelters

From the Times Ledger:

State Sen. Toby Ann Stavisky (D-Flushing) was joined by members of the advocacy group Elmhurst United last week outside the former Pan American hotel, where she announced legislation she recently introduced that would mandate homeless family shelter units to have working kitchens.

The measure, S7181 A, would require family homeless shelters for 10 or more families to have working kitchens within 60 days of the registration of the contract between the operator of the shelter and the city of New York.

Stavisky’s bill is in direct response to the recent and controversial uptick of repurposed hotels being used as homeless shelters. In Stavisky’s district, the city came under fire for turning the former Pan American hotel on Queens Boulevard in Elmhurst into a family shelter without supplying functioning kitchens in each unit.

Homeless behavior is causing problems all over the city

From the Daily News:

The Daily News spent three months looking at life in neighborhoods with large numbers of shelter beds, documenting the cost these residents pay by shouldering a disproportionate share of the city’s collective burden.

The News found they often face a wide variety of challenges: verbal harassment and physical assaults; stoops used as bathrooms; outdoor flowerpots used to hide knives; prostitution and drug dealing; newly arrived gentrifiers unable to tell the difference between some longtime homeowners and shelter residents; real estate brokers warning that property values fall when new shelters are announced nearby; and a pastor who lost half his congregation after a parishioner was raped by homeless youths from a nearby shelter.

From the Daily News:

All along Queens Boulevard the Department of Homeless Services has placed homeless in one hotel after another. Residents believe two more are coming soon based on building permits touting new “hotel/apartment residences.”

Watchful residents complain about a history of complaints over incidents involving these hotels-turned-shelters, from prostitution to physical assaults.

Between 2013 and 2017, there have been 809 calls to 311 about homeless assistance in the two zip codes with the bulk of the hotels: 11377 and 11373.

Those two zip codes far outstrip all others in Queens for calls about the homeless.

On Jan. 4, the Department of Investigation revealed prostitution and drug arrests at 34 hotels where the city places homeless families. Twelve of those hotels are located in Queens, the report said.

Exhibit No. 1 cited by frustrated locals is the Pan Am Hotel.

Four months after the mayor’s promise to cut back on shelter-hotels, the city re-upped its contract with the nonprofit that manages a family shelter in the Pan Am — extending it through 2023.

Longtime homeowner Sally Wang, a member of Elmhurst United, a group pushing to close the Pan Am, said the new contract with DHS is just the latest insult to arrive from City Hall.

“What we’re finding is a lot of homeowners are selling out because of the shelter,” she said. “They don’t want to be near the shelter. They’re selling to investor owners who don’t live here and that starts the deterioration of the whole neighborhood. And it's worse now that the contract is in for six years.”

Violence at shelters has been redefined by the de Blasio administration.

And here's what Billionaire's Row has to look forward to.

Samaritan Village can't pay for Pan Am kitchens

From DNA Info:

The shelter provider at the former Pan Am hotel has gotten a six-year contract extension from the city — despite saying it can't build the mandatory kitchens for each unit because it can't get a loan to fund construction.

Samaritan Village Daytop's Boulevard Family Shelter got its extension bid approved by the city's Human Resources Administration on March 17, as well as an additional $10.5 million through the end of June — which includes $4.8 million for rent at the former hotel.

That brings the total contract amount for the shelter to $26,431,554 each year — but still doesn't include the cost of building kitchens in each of the rooms, which last year was part of the mandatory requirement before a contract extension could be approved.

The city said last year that it will pay for the renovations needed to turn the shelter into a Tier 2 facility, and Samaritan Village was required to lay out a timeline for the work.

Samaritan Village has been delayed since it hasn't been able to receive a loan "due to the lack of registration for this work," a letter states.

A Department of Homeless Services official said work on the 216-room hotel's kitchens will begin this July, with 100 units finished by July 2018. The rest will finish by 2019. it was not immediately clear where the money for the kitchen construction would come from in light of the operator's issues with getting a construction loan.

Pan Am contract request sums up de Blasio's debacle

Samaritan Village Demands More Funding by queenscrapper on Scribd

Well that didn't take long. Check out HRA's proposed contract extension for the Pan Am Hotel. The taxpayer trough is open and Samaritan Village has lined up.

They've been open for 3 years and have only managed to get 91 families to exit? And this should be continued for another 6 years? Also it's a good thing they are providing "recreational activities" but how about job placement?

Dissecting the numbers: DHS' phony homeless crisis

The story from the DHS has changed from "243 residents of Maspeth" are in shelters, to "243 residents of Community Board 5" are in shelters. Why the city feels the need to require shelter placement based on made-up political boundaries is a good question. Regardless, the DHS' numbers still don't add up. They say that CB5 doesn't have a shelter and needs to do its fair share, however, another 110-room shelter in CB5 is not necessary at all. Why?

Most of the homeless from CB5 are members of families with children. Each family needs one room. CB5 produced 54 homeless families in 2014. Crunching the numbers it appears that 1 existing location could just about house every homeless family produced by not one, but FOUR community boards in western Queens.

CB1:
Astoria: 41 families

CB2:
Long Island City: 29 families
Sunnyside: 1 family
Woodside: 22 families

CB4:
Corona: 38 families
Elmhurst: 15 families

CB5:
Maspeth: 7 families
Middle Village: 3 families
Ridgewood/Glendale: 44 families

Total: 201 families
The Pan Am shelter alone holds 200 families

So if all of the homeless families of western Queens could fit in the Pan Am, why do we also need the Metro Motel, the Westway, the Quality Inn, etc? It seems we have too many beds for the homeless families we are told we need to be responsible for.

Moving on to couples:

Once again, the 1 couple from Maspeth and 3 couples from Ridgewood could fit into a 4-family house. The city owns one on Flushing Avenue that it wishes to keep in dilapidated condition instead of putting to productive use.  Using the criteria above, the homeless couples without children produced by CB1, CB2, CB4 & CB5 amounts to 30.  The city is proposing a 110-room shelter for couples at the Maspeth Holiday Inn which is way more rooms than western Queens needs to house the homeless couples we crank out.

And finally, singles:

34 singles from CB5 doubled up in rooms means that in actuality, only 17 rooms are required in the district. Spread them out across the neighborhoods and that doesn't seem to be a big deal. I suggest using AirBnB to accomplish this (tee hee).

Please do not believe the DHS' dazzling lines of bullshit. They want hardworking taxpayers of Queens to pay for freeloaders from out of town. Let them do what every other municipality seems to be doing - put them on a bus to somewhere else, preferably where they came from in the first place. The burden of sheltering the entire country should not fall on NYC taxpayers because fauxgressives want to perpetuate the dependency culture that keeps them elected for life.

Avella protests sex offenders at shelters; Dromm protests booze ads

While Elmhurst residents were rallying against the presence of sex offenders at the Pan Am family shelter...



their council member, Danny Dromm, was protesting subway Budweiser ads with a bunch of bible thumpers.

Child rapist living at Pan Am shelter

From the Queens Chronicle:

A Level 3 sex offender may be living at the Boulevard Family Residence — an Elmhurst homeless shelter for families — according to the state Division of Criminal Justice Services.

State records list Dwayne Clark's primary residence as 79-00 Queens Blvd. A footnote says "the United States Postal Service has indicated this may not be a valid mailing address," but exactly what that means is unclear.

The Department of Homeless Services could not immediately confirm or deny whether Clark is a resident at the shelter, and a representative said the matter is being investigated.

According to state records, the 47-year-old Clark was convicted in 1995 of first-degree sexual abuse for assaulting a pair of 13-year-old girls and a 10-year-old girl.

Records say he had sexual intercourse with the victims after he "immediately and physically overpowered" them.

Private company getting public money to upgrade their property

From DNA Info:

The nearly $24 million contract for the controversial shelter at the former Pan Am hotel does not include the cost of renovations required to convert the space into a federally allowable family shelter, according to its contract.

City taxpayers will pick up that $2 million-plus tab.

The 216 rooms inside the shelter, which opened in June of 2014, all must have kitchens under federal guidelines — and will cost an estimated $2.2 million on top of the $23.8 million contract, which was issued in February after multiple denials, officials said.

The city plans to foot the bill for the additional kitchen renovation costs, as well as the costs of building an on-site day care center and a playground, according to the Department of Homeless Services.

The building is owned by Steven Berger, who bought it under the LLC 7900 Development Corporation, according to city records. He owns and operates multiple homeless shelters, including the LaGuardia Family Center and the East River Family Center, records show.

So why isn't he paying for this?

How brainwashed is the Queens press?

So remember a couple of years ago when reporters announced with glee that crime decreased after the Pan Am opened, relying on bogus stats from the NYPD and the DHS to make it look like there was hysteria over nothing?

Then came the problems that couldn't be hidden. One by one the reports piled up.

DHS' response? That a racial incident was perpetrated against an unnamed Pan Am shelter kid by unnamed assailants of a local school. No arrests were ever made, and the NYPD and DOE were never notified of the incident, yet it was reported as fact, because local journalists don't think DHS has a reason to lie.

Now the shit is really hitting the fan, as real journalists, like citywide reporters Courtney Gross of NY1 (5-part series) and Greg Smith of the Daily News (5-part series), absolutely rip the de Blasio administration apart over their mishandling of shelter problem.

When a community reports major problems with a shelter, maybe it's best that the local reporters take them seriously.

Please do your jobs and stop being shills for the mayor.

Pan Am homeless shelter gets permanent contract - until next year

From DNA Info:

The city approved a permanent contract for the controversial Pan Am shelter on the provider’s fourth try, according to the comptroller’s office.

The $23.8 million contract will allow Samaritan Village to operate the more than 200-room family shelter through June 2017, provided they complete specific construction projects to clear up violations and make improvements, officials said.

Comptroller Scott Stringer had denied the shelter’s three other applications, citing concerns about the safety of the former hotel at 7900 Queens Blvd.

Officials with the comptroller’s office said Samaritan Village had either cleared or presented a plan to clear open violations and other building issues.

Samaritan Village also plans to convert the shelter into a Tier 2 facility, officials said. They would have to present a construction plan for kitchens and an outdoor playground by June 20, 2016, in order to receive all of the contract money.

Pan Am shelter resident assaults old man

From DNA Info:

A resident of the homeless shelter at the former Pan Am hotel was arrested Wednesday for assault after pushing a man outside a school in October, telling police he was trying to protect his family.

David McLean, 39, allegedly pushed the 69-year-old victim on the corner of 52nd and Van Horn streets, near P.S. 102, at 3:15 p.m. on Oct. 28, according to police.

The victim was taken to the hospital for spine fractures and a compression to the spine, according to the criminal complaint.

McLean was arrested and arraigned Nov. 18, and charged with a third-degree felony. A temporary order of protection was issued, and he was released.

He's due back in court Jan. 21.

It's not clear how long he's lived at the Boulevard Family Shelter, inside the former Pan Am Hotel.

Avella rally today in opposition to Pan Am shelter

(Queens, NY) October 11th at 12:00 PM, State Senator Tony Avella will be holding a rally with Elmhurst United to oppose the use of the former Pan Am hotel as a shelter. The Rally will be held outside of the shelter on the corner of Hillyer Street and Queens Boulevard.

The building’s numerous violations and lack of kitchens have blocked attempts to grant the shelter permanent status. Senator Avella and Elmhurst United now call for use of the facility to be discontinued and for proper accommodations to be provided for the homeless

WHO: State Senator Tony Avella, Elmhurst United

WHEN: Sunday, October 11th, at 12:00 PM

WHERE: On the corner of Queens Boulevard and Hillyer Street, Elmhurst, Queens

How to smackdown a politician

Anthony Del Mundo/Daily News

Dear Editor (Queens Chronicle):

Councilman Dromm: I was deeply offended by your accusation that “Some of those who are now arguing the conditions are not up to par in the facility are the people who were involved with the hateful, vitriolic language being aimed at the residents” in the article “‘Three-nied’: Stringer says no to Pan Am deal” (Sept. 3, multiple editions).

I am one of the many who have brought to light the horrendous conditions at the Pan Am shelter. However, I have never made “hateful, vitriolic language” against these homeless families.

In fact, I would like to understand what you have done for your new constituents, outside of handing out knapsacks?

Did you effectively handle the out-of-control garbage problem? The rat infestation? The roach and bedbug problems? Most importantly, have you done anything to support the installation of a kitchen in each unit so that these families are in safe and humane living conditions? The answer to this is no, as I am sure you would have called the press to toot your own horn if you did anything.

Therefore, if you have no intention of advocating for a kitchen in each unit in the Pan Am shelter, I urge you to focus on the horrendous graffiti problem in Elmhurst, the out-of-control trash all over the streets and sidewalks and the loud airplane noise that is plaguing our area so that you have something to show come election time outside of making inaccurate and unjust statements.

J. Ramos
Elmhurst

________________________________________________

Dear Editor (Queens Chronicle):

Regarding the Pan Am shelter, Councilman Dromm was quoted in your recent article “‘Three-nied’: Stringer says no to Pan Am deal,” as saying “Some of those who are now arguing the conditions are not up to par in the facility are the people who were involved with the hateful, vitriolic language being aimed at the residents.”

By making these remarks Dromm is calling the new immigrants of his district hateful and malicious while ignoring the efforts they have made to improve the living conditions of destitute families at Pan Am. It was Elmhurst residents who raised hell and embarrassed the building management to put in a trash compactor, forced state and city agencies to inspect the hotel, got rid of the rats next to the recreation area and forced the landlord to make the hotel habitable. They have accomplished all this with zero help from Dromm.

The Pan Am building currently has an expired certificate of occupancy, making parts of the building illegal to occupy. The building has various uncorrected violations and tens of thousands of dollars in unpaid penalties. The FDNY could shut down the building at its next inspection and yet Dromm is welcoming families and children to stay in this firetrap. There will be casualties at the next fire; just look at the violations for inadequate sprinklers and fire doors.

Warehousing four people into a single room with bunk beds and no desk is not the solution. These residents need a lease, rent subsidies and job referrals to start from scratch. Dromm’s handshakes and schoolbags are not enough to get them out of the system.

Victor Enriquez
Elmhurst

Pan Am Hotel rejected a third time for permanent shelter

From the Queens Courier:

For the city’s Department of Homeless Services (DHS), the third time was not a charm.

City Comptroller Scott Stringer has once again rejected the agency’s proposal, which was submitted twice before, to convert the former Pan American Hotel located at 79-00 Queens Blvd. into a permanent homeless shelter.

“The Comptroller’s Office rejected for the third time a permanent contract for Samaritan Village Inc. to operate a shelter at the Pan American Hotel. We have asked the Department of Homeless Services to revise its plan to address outstanding health and safety violations,” said Eric Sumberg, spokesman for Stringer.

The emergency homeless shelter at the former Elmhurst hotel was supposed to close last December, yet even after facing large opposition from community members, an application was submitted to convert it into a permanent shelter under a five-year, $42 million contract with DHS.

This third rejection comes after Stringer already sent the proposal back to DHS in July and May citing that changes, such as clearing all outstanding violations and complaints, needed to be made before he considered accepting.

Congresswoman Grace Meng applauded Stringer’s decision and voiced her opinion on the proposed shelter.

Queens homeless shelter updates

From the Queens Courier:

The fight continues for Elmhurst community members who continue to stand together hoping the city will again reject the proposal to convert the former Pan American Hotel into a permanent homeless shelter, which was resubmitted last month.

Local elected officials gathered with residents and community activists on Tuesday morning outside the facility to call for the rejection of Samaritan Village’s proposal that would turn the emergency shelter into a permanent one.

“We cannot address the growing homeless population at the expense of homeless families and children, or the community as a whole,” said state Senator Tony Avella, who previously voiced his opposition of the homeless shelter and its conditions. “We must look to fix this broken system.”

The emergency homeless shelter at the former hotel was supposed to close last December, yet even after facing large opposition from community members, an application was submitted to convert it into a permanent shelter under a five-year, $42 million contract with the Department of Homeless Services.

In May, the proposal was rejected by the office of Comptroller Scott Stringer due to health and safety concerns, such as fire code violations and lack of kitchen facilities in the units, but it was resubmitted on June 12 and now Stringer must decide to accept or reject it by next week.

From the Daily News:

The city is moving sex offenders out of a Queens homeless shelter after officials discovered a nearby school is actually closer than the mandated 1,000 feet.

There are 52 registered sex offenders living at the Skyway Shelter in South Ozone Park, according to City Councilman Ruben Wills (D-Jamaica), who opposed the shelter’s conversion from a family residence to a men’s housing facility in 2011.

“We are working to transfer those residents to sites that are compliant,” a Department of Homeless Services spokeswoman said Tuesday.

Initially, the city believed the shelter was 1,000 feet away from Public School/Middle School 124, authorities said. But that measurement did not include a school playground, which is actually 922 feet from the 176-bed shelter, according to parents at the school.

Samaritan Village tries again for permanent Pan Am homeless shelter

From DNA Info:

The operator of a controversial homeless shelter in the former Pan Am hotel has re-applied for a permanent contract despite multiple unresolved fire safety complaints, DNAinfo has learned.

Samaritan Village re-submitted its application on June 12 for a $42.7 million contract to operate the Boulevard Family Shelter at 7900 Queens Blvd., records show.

Comptroller Scott Stringer denied the shelter's original application in May citing major health and safety issues at the shelter, including fire code violations and lack of kitchens inside each unit, which are required by law.

According to the Department of Buildings records online, two complaints, one for insufficient sprinklers and the other for a lack of fire-stop doors in the building's long hallways, were added to the DOB's site on June 26th.

There are also open Environmental Control Board violations regarding construction issues from May and January.

The current list of violations kept by the Housing Preservation and Development show complaints about raw sewage accumulation, bed bugs, roaches, lack of running water and no heat throughout the shelter.

Pan Am contract rejected...for now

From DNA Info:

Comptroller Scott Stringer has rejected a contract for the homeless shelter in the former Pan Am Hotel, citing concerns about the safety of those living there, his office announced Monday.

Stringer said he won't approve the permanent contract between the city and the shelter's operator, Samaritan Village, until his office "receives assurances that anyone staying in these facilities will be safe, all outstanding violations and complaints have been corrected and all documentation that the requirements of the contracting process were met."

The 216 rooms lack kitchens, which are required by law.

Stringer's office sent the permanent contract back to the administration along with a contract for a shelter on West 45th Street in Manhattan run by Aguila Inc., his office said.

When asked about the conditions at the shelter inside the Pan Am, specifically the lack of kitchens that are required by law, DHS Commissioner Gilbert Taylor said they didn't have any immediate plans to add them.

"We don’t have a plan yet to install cooking facilities in that location. We’re not certain that that would be actually the best thing for us to do," he said.

From DNA Info:

Life in the nearly year-old Pan Am homeless shelter is worse than serving time in jail, some residents told DNAinfo New York.

The facility, which opened in June 2015 to help house the record-number of New Yorkers living in shelters, which was 56,602 as of May 5 and included 11,600 families, crams clients into tiny rooms without kitchens — against city, state and federal guidelines.

Instead, the 216-room shelter operator, Samaritan Village, offers three meals a day. But the food is "disgusting" and "garbage," according to nearly a dozen residents, all mothers, who spoke to DNAinfo about how they have found it difficult and expensive to live in a shelter without kitchens.

“The food is still frozen, it’s terrible,” said one mother, who has a 9-year-old daughter. DNAinfo is withholding the mothers' names because they fear retaliation for speaking to the media.

When she moved into the shelter, also know as the Boulevard Family Center, in January she got sick with what she believed to be food poisoning her first week there, she said.

“It’s exhausting when you don’t get enough food stamps because [the] shelter says they provide food," she said. "I did time — the food was better in jail."

Another resident estimates she spends $60 a day on food for her and two teenaged sons, including one with special needs. She usually picks up dinner at McDonald's across Queens Boulevard or at a nearby deli.

“If we had kitchen, I’d spend $20,” she said. “Food is expensive.”

Her tiny room, where her two sons share one bed, is equipped with a small refrigerator but she's forbidden from keeping a microwave.

The one communal microwave broke weeks ago and hasn't been fixed, residents said.

Another mom of three teenagers said she used to buy meals at a local supermarket and heat them in the microwave, but couldn't anymore since it broke.

Fire at Pan Am as governor's deadline passes

#Queens 99-3124 79-00 Queens Blvd All Hands for a fire in a 7 sty 300 x 50 homeless shelter (ex Pan Am hotel) @NYCFireWire @FDNY #FDNY

— Worldwide Actions (@AlwaysActions) May 6, 2015

QNS ALL HANDS 79-00 QUEENS BLVD, MULTIPLE DWELLING FIRE ON 3RD FLR,

— FDNY (@FDNY) May 6, 2015

QNS ALL HANDS 79-00 QUEENS BLVD, MULTIPLE DWELLING FIRE ON 3RD FLR, UNDER CONTROL

— FDNY (@FDNY) May 6, 2015

Thankfully it was under control quickly and seemingly without injury. The cause at this point is unknown. At least we know it wasn't a kitchen fire!

Cuomo gives Pan Am shelter providers 1 week to clean up their act

From the Daily News:

Gov. Cuomo’s administration on Tuesday gave the city a week to clean up homeless shelters perenially plagued by code violations, including a Queens hotel that’s hosting a vermin colony.

In a letter obtained by the Daily News, Sharon Devine, acting commissioner of the state Office of Temporary & Disability Assistance, warned the city homeless services department it could be facing big fines.

Devine cited a city Department of Investigation probe that found multiple code violations at 24 shelters, plus a News report Tuesday about a rat colony behind the Pan Am Hotel in Elmhurst.

Noting that these conditions “are not isolated,” Devine also singled out the Pan Am Hotel report in the News:

“Published reports today highlight substandard living conditions existing at the Pan American hotel in Elmhurst Queens,” Devine wrote. “We have concluded an independent inspection of that facility and have confirmed several serious violations.”

Devine ordered DHS to fix the problems within seven days. If DHS fails to comply, the state could withhold payments, impose daily fines, ask a court to appoint a receiver or even close problem shelters.

In response, a DHS spokesperson faulted the state for not providing more money to address what has been a steadily growing homeless population in the city.

The Pan Am opened almost a year ago, so what is the excuse? Why does DHS need more money when they have contracts with providers who are supposed to be taking care of conditions at these sites? Please sign the petition I posted in the sidebar. Maybe we can get Stringer to give this slimy provider, Samaritan Village,s the boot.

Millions upon millions of tax dollars given to slumlords

From the Daily News:

In the past five years, the city has spent $241 million housing homeless families in hellholes rife with a catalog of code violations from vermin to lead paint, a Daily News investigation has found.

The money flowed to the operators of 24 fleabag hotels and rundown tenements that, despite being repeatedly cited by city inspectors, have become last-resort housing for thousands of desperate families.

All told, taxpayers have coughed up a stunning $1.7 billion to shelter a steadily rising tide of families since fiscal year 2010, records obtained under the Freedom of Information Law show.

Throughout that time, the city has consistently spent more on family shelters than it did on parks, libraries or senior programs.

During the last four years of the Bloomberg mayoralty and the first six months of Mayor de Blasio’s administration, the annual cost of family shelters rose 34%, peaking at $406.2 million in the last fiscal year.

As the number of homeless families seeking shelter rose from 37,000 in 2010 to top 60,000 in December, city inspectors kept citing many of the shelters for a long and horrific list of infractions.

Inspectors found dead rats and mice, bunk beds and cribs jammed up against windows leading to the fire escape, and numerous nonfunctioning smoke detectors. At one fleabag, staff claimed they weren’t allowed to turn on air conditioning without a doctor’s note.

The DOI found that the city Homeless Services Department routinely gave shelters with serious open code violations a “passing grade,” and in some cases did little to punish the nonprofits it pays to run these flophouses.

So, these places are run like hovels, but they are in the process of giving permanent contracts to the slumlords running them? Wouldn't it make more sense to ban them from providing services and finding new providers?

Check out what the Daily News found at the Pan Am.