A plan by the Mamdani administration to relocate a major homeless intake facility to the East Village is now on hold after a judge issued a temporary restraining order.
The city had announced in March it would close the deteriorating Bellevue shelter at East 30th Street and First Avenue and move intake operations to a building at 8 East Third St. — a site that previously operated as a mental health shelter.
What You Need To Know
The Mamdani administration announced in March plans to close the Bellevue Shelter at 30th Street and First Avenue due to deteriorating conditions
Residents in the East Village took legal action to stop a city plan to move the intake facility from Midtown to a site previously operated as a mental health shelter
The group suing the city and the mayor say the new facility could be overcrowded and lead to security concerns
The community was outraged.
“We kinda found out last-minute and we scrambled to organize and all we really want is to be assured that this is the safest thing for all of those involved,” said Caleb Berger, an East Village resident.
A group of residents and business owners in the East Village filed a lawsuit Monday to stop the opening, which was set for May 1. A state judge issued a temporary restraining order Wednesday, putting the plan on hold.
Caleb Berger, part of a coalition known as V.O.I.C.E — Village Organization for the Integrity of Community Engagement — said the lawsuit was not about being against shelters.
“We are not against living with shelters. We all live in the East Village they are part of the social fabric. The residents are our neighbors,” said Berger. “What they are proposing is to move the entire intake operation, essentially the front door of the New York City, five borough shelter system to our narrow residential block.”
The group says the city bypassed normal public comment requirements and environmental reviews by issuing an emergency executive order. They worry about potential overcrowding and safety concerns.
“They moved way too fast, the order was made in March for them to move in on May 1, without getting any community input,” said Berger.
Some business owners are concerned too.
“We truly believe that this is a little slice of Mexico in NY and we want to preserve that and this shelter complicates things unfortunately,” said Marisela Bolanos, the store coordinator for La Sirena Mexican Folk Art.
But the Coalition for the Homeless and the Legal Aid Society say the conflict is a classic case of “not in my backyard.”
They say the building has served as an intake facility in the past and was being used as a mental health shelter serving about 200 men.
“These cases read always exactly the same,” said Josh Goldfein, a staff attorney for the Legal Aid Society. The neighbors say, ‘We don’t want these folks in our neighborhood.’ They have no factual basis to say why the clients who will be served will be any different than the clients that have been served there for decades.”
With this temporary restraining order, the judge has given the city two weeks to respond. Both sides are expected back in court May 7.
NY1 reached out to City Hall for comment but has not yet received a response.