\u201cWe weren\u2019t even told officially. The staff is in limbo,\u201d one longtime Department of Homeless Services employee, who spoke anonymously because they were not authorized to speak to reporters,\u00a0 told THE CITY on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Several shelter residents told THE CITY they\u2019d learned about the closure from workers and other residents, while some said they\u2019d been told to sign transfer notices saying they\u2019d be moved to another shelter location. One transfer notice reviewed by THE CITY said the person would be sent to a shelter in Gowanus<\/a> but it didn\u2019t say on what date they had to leave.\u00a0<\/p>\n Corey Sims, 32, said he\u2019d just come to intake this week and got assigned to the 30th Street shelter where he\u2019d thought he\u2019d be for a month, but when he got to his dorm upstairs, they told him to sign another piece of paper telling him he\u2019d have to leave in two weeks.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s upsetting,\u201d Sims said. Sims said he was worried documentation of his stay would get lost when he moved and he\u2019d have to restart the assessment process again before he\u2019d be able to get a longer-term shelter bed. \u201cNow you\u2019re postponing what I\u2019m here to accomplish.\u201d<\/p>\n In a joint statement from the Coalition for the Homeless and the Legal Aid Society, which represents the Coalition in its ongoing settlement with the city over New York\u2019s \u201cright to shelter\u201d<\/a> protections, the groups raised concerns about the sudden closure.<\/p>\n \u201cFor decades, the 30th Street facility has served as the primary intake center for adult men and adult families across all five boroughs,\u201d the statement read. \u201cAny disruption to this critical front door to shelter \u2014 especially on short notice \u2014 risks creating confusion and additional hardship for people who are already experiencing homelessness.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018Shocking\u2019<\/p>\n The 30th Street shelter has been the main front door into the city\u2019s massive shelter system which now houses more than 85,000 people on a given night.<\/a> In addition to several hundred beds for men for shorter-term stays, men and adult families also arrive for intake at the 30th Street facility before being assigned to shelters all across the city.<\/p>\n The impact of the closure cannot be underestimated. For decades, the 30th street location has been passed by word of mouth among anyone needing a place to stay in New York and beyond.<\/p>\n People were still turning up and being taken in on Thursday: \u201cI\u2019m homeless. I just found out about this place yesterday,\u201d said a man who said he\u2019d come from New Jersey looking for a bed.<\/p>\n Another man said he\u2019d passed through Bellevue Hospital several times in the course of becoming homeless and finding shelter.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m just shocked that it\u2019s closing,\u201d the man said, giving just his first name, Leor, before jumping on a bus to head to his newly-assigned shelter.\u00a0<\/p>\n The nearly 100-year-old building first opened in 1933 as Bellevue Hospital\u2019s psychiatric ward. The ward later moved into Bellevue\u2019s new hospital building down the block, and the city opened a shelter there in 1984.<\/p>\n The Bloomberg administration attempted to shut the shelter down and even floated a plan to turn it into<\/a> a luxury hotel, which was roundly criticized by advocates<\/a>.<\/p>\n At nearly 100 years old, the building is in dire need of fixes. In 2020, THE CITY<\/a> reported the building had long been plagued with hazardous conditions from asbestos and serious fire safety violations, to collapsing ceilings and faulty elevators.<\/p>\n The closure comes at a transitional moment for the Department of Homeless Services. Molly Wasow Park, a longtime bureaucrat who helmed the agency during the historic migrant crisis, just tendered her resignation. Her replacement is Erin Dalton, tapped by Mamdani\u2019s administration, who comes from leading the Allegheny County Department of Human Services<\/a> in the Pittsburgh area. There, she oversaw a shelter system that had just about a thousand residents<\/a>, about a small fraction of the size of New York City\u2019s complex system which includes hundreds of shelters across the five boroughs.<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/030426_30th_st_shelter-4.jpg\")
The 30th Street Men\u2019s Shelter was a first stop for homeless people seeking housing, March 4, 2026. Credit: Ben Fractenberg\/THE CITY<\/p>\n