The city is not planning to appeal a court ruling ordering it to turn over documents related to last year’s highly controversial planned conversion of the Maspeth Holiday Inn Express into a homeless shelter.
The Sept. 27 ruling, made by Justice Allan Weiss of Queens Supreme Court, stems from an Article 78 case brought against the city earlier this year by the civic Citizens for a Better Maspeth.
Under court order, the Department of Homeless Services must provide CBM with the city’s original request for proposals and the response documents from applying companies as it related to the proposed operation the 59-40 55 Road hotel as a shelter.
“It is ordered and adjudged that the petition is granted solely to the extent that respondents are directed to provide petitioner with copies of the Request For Proposals that were received in connection with the proposal to convert the subject Holiday Inn Express to a homeless shelter,” Weiss’ ruling reads, “and any and all plans submitted along with the RFPs which demonstrate that the space would be a conforming use under the zoning resolution.”
Zoning law only permits hotel stays of 30 days or less in manufacturing zones — the Holiday Inn Express is located in an M1-1 zone — and CBM alleges that homeless men have been staying at Patel’s building for months at a time.
6 comments:
Slow and steady wins the race. I thank this group for putting the screws to the administration and for standing up to people who want to ruin their neighborhood. They started last year by dumping Marge Markey and hopefully Crowley is next.
I get protesting DHS, but doesn't it seem kind of shitty to stand outside a homeless shelter waving signs? It's one thing to be angry at the city, but it's entirely another to take it out on the people unfortunate enough to have to live in a shelter.
The bulk of the protesting happened before it was converted into a shelter. The objective was to pressure the owner not to sign the contract and it appears that it worked. They went to other neighborhoods and Steve Banks house later on.
Anon is correct. Maspeth used Alinsky's rule 13 perfectly.
"Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it." Cut off the support network and isolate the target from sympathy. Go after people and not institutions; people hurt faster than institutions.
lol at using alinsky to bolster anti shelter initiatives. damn.
It is ironic don't you think. Something about goose gander and all that.
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