Explosion in number of homeless shelters in Queens

Well folks, you couldn't have come to this site over the last week or so and not have been informed that there is a shelter proposed for the Holiday Inn in Maspeth and a meeting about it was held last night. I am still sorting through all the videos and photos that were sent to me so I can report on this correctly instead of the way the media did. I can say that Maspeth did a GREAT job in standing up for themselves. So please bear with me.

In the meantime it has been brought to my attention that 3 more are opening or have opened around the borough (and that's just the ones I found out about)...


From the Daily News:

Meanwhile, the city has quietly moved 37 homeless families into a nearby Quality Inn in Woodside — despite Mayor de Blasio’s vow to phase out the use of hotel rooms to house homeless families.

The 37 families have been there since June, officials confirmed, and the city is providing full-time security and services for the families.

Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer (D-Queens) said local officials were never notified of the move — and he was particularly upset to be left in the dark because he’s worked with the city to welcome other shelters in the neighborhood and avoid protests.

"It’s outrageous that they would move the families in without even notifying anybody," he said.
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"Since this opened earlier this year, the unemployed residents are seen wondering aimlessly around the streets and hanging out on the steps of the buildings at all hours. An assortment of shabby looking women are regularly seen hanging around the complex.

We asked for affordable housing and services for our seniors, but, DeBlasio ignored the pleas of the locals who voted for him and saddled us with more homeless housing."

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It sounds like "supportive housing" is the new name fauxgressives have chosen for "homeless shelter".

T building will basically become a homeless shelter

From the Queens Courier:

A development company has signed a 99-year lease with the city to turn the historic T-Building into a 205-unit apartment building that will include housing for patients at a nearby hospital, many of whom are homeless.

“These are people that literally cannot leave the hospital because there is not appropriate housing to discharge them to,” said Michael Dunn, president of Dunn Development Corp, the company that received the lease from the city.

Speaking at a meeting with Community Board 8 members on Wednesday, Dunn continued, “The idea is to serve people whose housing instability or lack of housing impacts their health.”

Dunn Development Corp. signed a 99-year lease with the city to develop the T-Building on Queens Hospital Center’s campus into 205 apartments. As part of the deal, Dunn will not destroy the old Hillcrest tuberculosis center, but the company will embark on a major $12 million renovation to turn the former medical building into apartments.

T Building back on track as housing

From the Queens Courier:

A proposal to turn the historic T Building on Queens Hospital Center’s grounds into 206 units of affordable housing has resumed after several years of missteps and controversy, according to local leaders and a politician.

As part of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s affordable housing initiative, the city has restarted the process of turning the former tuberculosis center in Hillcrest into a residential building.

But plans to do something with the medical building go back to at least 2012 when the Queens Hospital Center worked with a nonprofit human services agency to develop the dilapidated 10-story building on its campus into 251 units of affordable housing. Community leaders and politicians like state Senator Tony Avella killed that plan, along with others.

“The new proposal is much better than the original proposal,” said Avella, who has been working closely with the community and city officials to develop plans. “Are there still things that have to be worked out? Of course. We want some more details. And we will continue to crystalize the plans.”

The city’s plans for the building are still in the early phases, and the city hasn’t publicly released any details. But, according to Avella, the new proposal addresses all of the issues raised by the community – from preserving the historic building to making sure that the community is comfortable with who the new residents will be.

The T Building: Should it stay or go?

From the Times Ledger:

About a year after it floated a plan to convert an underused building on its Jamaica Hills campus into supportive housing, Queens Hospital Center is now considering tearing down the T Building, though a group of preservationists wants to see the historic structure stay.

The hospital’s plan last year to lease the 76-year-old former tuberculosis ward was met with sharp rebuke from neighborhood residents and community leaders, who feared the building’s tenants — people with low incomes, chronic conditions, mental disabilities and those living with HIV/AIDS — would be too close for comfort to nearby schools.

Queens Hospital eventually dropped the plan and now is looking at a number of options for the building — which is currently being used as a back office — including demolition.

The Queens Preservation Council, however, is up in arms over the prospect of losing the building designed by John Russell Pope, architect of Washington, D.C.’s Jefferson Memorial and the National Gallery of Art.

“Not only is this handsome building an outstanding work by a master architect, but its history embodies our city’s and our country’s response to urgent public health care needs during the Great Depression,” preservation chairman Mitchell Grubler wrote.

Richard Hellenbrecht, president of the Queens Civic Congress, said he has heard both sides of the argument and said each has a valid point.

“It’s impressive architecturally. It’s got a lot of detail that would be nice to preserve, but it’s got structural problems that would be expensive if they had to be repaired,” he said. “I’m on the fence myself. I don’t know if it’s best to demolish it or to save it.”