A Community Board 7 committee meeting Tuesday night became a passionate forum against plans for a transitional housing shelter on 107th Street.
The meeting was publicized as an informational presentation by Help USA, the organization planning to operate the shelter for 135 homeless women. But both Help USA and the city’s Department of Homeless Services pulled out of the meeting on Tuesday afternoon, according to CB7 Health and Human Services Committee co-chair Barbara Van Buren.
“Help USA hasn’t backed out yet, but they’re not happy with the situation,” Van Buren said at the start of the meeting. “DHS had decided that they’re not sure if they’re going to stay with the site.”
The shelter would operate out of 237 West 107th St., a “single room occupancy” building that has recently operated as the West Side Inn.
Van Buren said that the city has temporarily suspended the project because of community concerns about the building’s landlord.
“They’re going to be examining the background of the owner more carefully in the next three to four days,” she said, but added that she wasn’t sure how long the project would be on hold.
Committee members have been fighting the project because it is an example of affordable, low-income housing for permanent residents being converted into transient housing.
“Nobody cares if your neighbors are poor. They care if your neighbors aren’t really neighbors,” committee member Miki Fiegel said.
Because it would be transitional housing, neighbors voiced concerns about buses bringing people to the shelters at night and picking them up in the mornings.
Committee member Sheldon Fine urged neighbors to tell their elected officials that they wouldn’t stand for the sudden appearance of a shelter on their block without proper consultation.
“Let them know not because you’re against people who find themselves homeless, but because when these things are done in an emergency situation, they’re not well thought-out,” Fine said.
The committee said it would call for a meeting this week with relevant city officials.
Single room occupancy buildings like 237 West 107th St. are generally made up of rent-stabilized units, meaning that residents may pay relatively little per month, according to Fiegel. When turned into a DHS shelter, the city pays almost $3,000 per month for a room.
For that reason, landlords have a financial incentive to pressure tenants to leave, which community members see as another blow to affordable housing.
“I’m concerned because it’s a building for profit,” said a resident of another building on 107th Street, who requested anonymity because she had previously been threatened by the landlord in question. “This is a shelter that’s going to result in someone making a lot of money, since the city’s paying.”
The building’s website, which is still inviting reservations, describes the accommodations as “very cozy,” though online reviews describe it as dingy, with New York Magazine criticizing its “dirty everything.”
Upon entering the building, an employee who would not provide his name asked about having a reservation, then denied it was operating as a hotel. The building still has a plaque on the outside calling it the West Side Inn and brochures for local tourist attractions by the front doors.
Stephan Russo, executive director of the Goddard Riverside Community Center, who works with its SRO Law Project, said he thinks the building only has five permanent tenants.
“I don’t think we should soft pedal on this. We cannot lose more permanent affordable housing and we should not,” Russo said, urging the committee not to negotiate with the city about maintenance and security until the larger issue is settled.
But he emphasized that the primary opposition was not to the shelter itself, but to the way DHS would be putting large numbers of people into buildings with questionable landlords and without relevant community input.
“This is not a NIMBY [not in my backyard] discussion,” he said.
The only support for the project, though measured, came from the Rev. John Duffell of the Church of the Ascension on 107th Street.
“This was going to be a good provider, and there was going to be a contract with the provider,” Duffell said, referring to Help USA. “The provider was going to take care of maintenance, security, and providing social services together. The major concern was just the landlord, who has a history.”
Help USA spokesperson Alexandra Sorrota declined to comment before the meeting.
Neighbor Ellen Goodwin said the idea of transitional tenants scares her because of the large number of families on the block.
“There are 50 children under 10 in my building. I don’t want people begging, smoking pot—and I’m not saying these people will, but there’s a higher possibility,” Goodwin said. “I’m a permanent resident and I have rights too, and this temporary houses scares the hell out of me.”
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