City officials say construction will begin this week on a homeless shelter in Brooklyn despite protests against its construction Sunday night.
Police were called to get the crowd under control, and one protester was arrested for disorderly conduct.
What You Need To Know
City officials say construction will begin this week on a homeless shelter in Brooklyn despite protests against its construction Sunday night
The protest was a last-ditch effort by Bensonhurst community members as construction trucks were seen entering the site on 86th Street and 25th Avenue
The proposed homeless shelter could house up to 150 single adult men
City Hall says the site will be a high-quality shelter with on-site case managers to help those living there find permanent housing and employment. There will also be mental health services on-site
The protest was a last-ditch effort by Bensonhurst community members as construction trucks were seen entering the site on 86th Street and 25th Avenue.
Louis Stuto has lived in the neighborhood for nearly seven decades.
“Frustrated, very frustrated, because this shouldn’t be,” he said. “Show me where there’s a shelter that there’s not problems. They’re drunk. They drink. We have kids’ schools around here. It’s not safe.”
The proposed homeless shelter could house up to 150 single adult men. Residents say there are quality-of-life and safety concerns.
“I’m conflicted because at the end of the day, people deserve to have a place to live,” Jaelen Gonzalez said. “But in this neighborhood, there’s schools here. My son goes to school right up the block. It’s just not a neighborhood for that. There’s a lot of elderly people.”
Brooklyn Councilmember Susan Zhuang is also opposed to the shelter. She was arrested during a protest at the site in 2024 after the NYPD said she bit an officer. The charges were later dropped.
“We need City Hall to have people come here, to listen to the community, even before the demolition starts,” she said. “This is the right thing City Hall should do, and this is the thing the community wants.”
Advocates who work with the city’s homeless population believe this is the first step to get people off the city’s streets and into permanent housing.
“There’s this default to dehumanizing the people who need shelters and, just because somebody has lost their home, doesn’t mean that they’re not somebody that doesn’t want to get back on their feet and live in the community and find a way back into stability,” Dave Giffen, executive director with Coalition for the Homeless, said.
A City Hall spokesperson told NY1 in a statement Monday: “This forthcoming facility will be the first shelter site in this community district and will provide homeless individuals with a wide array of services and supports to help them get back on their feet and build their lives in the city. As part of our equitable siting approach, we are committed to ensuring that every community has adequate safety net resources.”
City Hall says the site will be a high-quality shelter with on-site case managers to help those living there find permanent housing and employment. There will also be mental health services on-site.
“I fear that it’s just going to get worse. I travel in the nighttime, that’s actually the bus I take to go to work,” Gonzalez said, pointing to the bus stop next to the proposed shelter site. “So in this area, right there, I’m going to be more petrified, you know, that people are going to be bothering me on my way to work just to make a living.”
City officials say there will be security officers and security cameras in and around the facility. However, community members say they’re still worried about neighborhood safety as the project moves ahead.
The city’s Department of Social Services called elected officials who have constituents in this district to let them know the project is going forward, and that construction could take up to two years, so the work will be ongoing.
An official opening day for the shelter has not been announced.