Ferreras, Peralta not notified of shelter

From the Queens Chronicle:

When asked Monday when it was decided that the space would become a shelter, the DHS did not immediately answer.

In June, state Sen. Jose Peralta (D-East Elmhurst) said in an emailed statement to the Queens Chronicle that it would be "inconceivable" to him to learn that there would be another homeless shelter would be opened in the area without community input.

On Monday, Peralta issued a written statement saying that there is an understanding of the city's need to house homeless families, but called it a "Bloomberg or Giuliani tactic of shoving a homeless shelter down a community's throat." He called the DHS's emergency authority a "cover" for putting a shelter into a community without input.

“Here we go again, another permanent homeless shelter coming into my district, which makes it the second one under this administration,” said Peralta.

The DHS will arrange for transportation to and from school and other appointments.
Also Monday, the office of City Councilwoman Julissa Ferreras (D-East Elmhurst), who also stressed in June the importance of community input, said the addition of the shelter brings a need for more support to the area.

"Of course she would have liked to have been told back in June when we first asked but overall, the council member and the people she's spoken to are sympathetic to the families who are moving into The Landing," a spokesperson said.

The spokesperson added that poor bus service is a constant issue and must be improved with more traffic generated by the shelter.

New notification procedure for permanent homeless shelters

From Crains:

...after many hushed negotiations with state Assembly members, DHS decided to change the approval process for shelters in a bid to improve frayed community relations.

Under the current policy, a company or nonprofit that wants to open a shelter must notify the community before submitting an application to the city. But it has no responsibility to follow up. After approving a long-term shelter application, DHS holds a public hearing near City Hall at the Mayor's Office of Contract Services.

But advocates assert there is little advance notice of the hearings, and that they aren't accessible to community members who live outside Manhattan.

The new policy requires DHS to give the community board and all elected officials who represent the district that receives a shelter a full 45 days' notice before the hearing in lower Manhattan. Within those 45 days, a representative of either DHS or the provider that proposed the shelter also will be required to attend a community board meeting in the district to discuss the project.

The new policy goes into effect immediately but does not apply to emergency shelters.

"We are looking into expanding and re-evaluating the current requirement as a means of improving the notification system" for emergency shelters, said a DHS spokeswoman.

In other words, expect more Westways and Pan Ams in the future.

Bill proposed to make you think you have input on new shelters

From the Queens Courier:

Communities will now have the chance to hear plans for proposed social service facility sites before they appear in their neighborhoods.

The Senate recently approved legislation co-sponsored by Senator Joseph Addabbo requiring a more transparent process when it comes to locating homeless shelters or other social service facilities in communities throughout the city.

Under the new legislation, social service providers would be required to notify community boards and the City Planning Commission (CPC) within 45 to 90 days of selecting a location for their facility. The CPC would then have to hold public hearings to gather local input on the proposed facilities.

Within 60 to 90 days of the public hearings, the CPC would have the final authority to approve, deny or modify the community-based programs.

Community boards may also request hearings be held within the same time frame if a provider is planning on renewing its lease. This allows for local input in cases where questions have been raised about the operation of the facility.

(In other words, they'll be forced to listen to you before they proceed without caring.)

Better notification of construction disruption

From the Daily News:

Neighborhoods will now get 72 hours’ notice when city construction projects close down their streets, cut off electricity and water or remove parking spaces.

Councilman Jimmy Vacca (D-Bronx) introduced a bill last month to force the change — but after meeting with the Department of Design and Construction commissioner Thursday, the agency agreed to make the change immediately.

Notices will go out by email to residents, businesses and local pols, and be followed by an in-person notice.

Providing adequate notice

From the Daily News:

A city councilman wants to shed some light on obscure government notices.

Under legislation to be introduced by Councilman Ben Kallos (D-Manhattan), the city would be required to post all government notices on its website — from announcements of a community board meeting to an application for a new sidewalk cafe.

“There’s literally hundreds and hundreds of places where the government has to make a public notice — but nobody knows what the government is doing, because the public notice requirements are so arcane,” said Kallos, chairman of the government operations committee.

“We can save a lot of paper and money and increase transparency,” he said.

The notices are physically posted in public buildings or published in the back pages of newspapers.

Another bill would require all records that the law says must be kept for public inspection to be posted online.

That would cover such documents as city contracts with private vendors and applications by developers for zoning changes.

This sounds like good government, commonsense legislation. Which is why it will probably die in committee.