{"id":206092,"date":"2026-04-22T15:27:26","date_gmt":"2026-04-22T15:27:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/206092\/"},"modified":"2026-04-22T15:27:26","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T15:27:26","slug":"east-villagers-sue-mamdani-to-stop-relocation-of-notorious-bellevue-mens-homeless-shelter-into-their-neighborhood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/206092\/","title":{"rendered":"East Villagers sue Mamdani to stop relocation of notorious Bellevue men’s homeless shelter into their neighborhood"},"content":{"rendered":"

Enraged East Villagers sued Mayor Zohran Mamdani in a last-gasp effort to stop the relocation of hundreds of homeless men <\/a>to a new shelter in their neighborhood.<\/p>\n

The lawsuit filed Monday seeks an emergency restraining order that would prevent the \u201crushed\u201d May 1 opening of the intake shelter along Third Street.<\/p>\n

The site was selected by City Hall as one of two intake shelters in Manhattan that would effectively replace the notorious Bellevue homeless shelter<\/a> \u2014 a haven for often-dangerous vagrants that Mamdani plans to close by the end of the month.<\/p>\n

East Village locals sued the city over the planned relocation of Bellevue homeless shelter residents to 8 E. Third St. in their neighborhood. Helayne Seidman for the NY Post<\/p>\n

But Mamdani and city officials not only underhandedly declared an \u201cemergency\u201d to close the Midtown shelter, their decision to plunk its clientele into the East Village was dangerously slapdash, the lawsuit contends.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis case is not about the City\u2019s decision to close the Bellevue Intake Shelter,\u201d the Manhattan Supreme Court filing states.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt challenges only the City\u2019s hastily made and legally invalid decision to [locate] a new citywide homeless adult male intake center at 8 East 3rd Street without following any of the legal requirements that must precede such a significant and consequential decision.\u201d<\/p>\n

The shelter skirmish erupted in March when Mamdani announced the move to close<\/a> the 250-resident Bellevue shelter on 30th Street, arguing that the city\u2019s largest homeless shelter for men had fallen into severe disrepair.<\/p>\n

The Bellevue shelter houses 250 homeless people. Helayne Seidman for the NY Post<\/p>\n

City officials revealed that families without minors would be relocated to 333 Bowery, while single adult men would go to an East Village facility.<\/p>\n

Locals quickly decried the decision, lambasting city officials during a fiery April 7 community meeting.<\/p>\n

\u201cNone of you all can stop drinking and drugging \u2026 and all lingering around here creating crimes and all kinds of stuff,\u201d thundered the Rev. Keith Gadson, one of the hundreds of locals at the meeting. \u201cPut it in your neighborhood!\u201d<\/p>\n

The East Village shelter would violate several local laws and codes, the lawsuit contends. Helayne Seidman for the NY Post<\/p>\n

The lawsuit \u2014 which was filed by the residents group VOICE, for Village Organization for the Integrity of Community Engagement \u2014 contends city Department of Homeless Services officials actually apologized for the \u201crushed\u201d process.<\/p>\n

Officials also admitted there was no \u201cimmediate danger\u201d at the Bellevue shelter, undercutting Mamdani\u2019s emergency declaration, the lawsuit contends.<\/p>\n

The East Village is saturated with homeless shelters, a fact that would have been obvious if city officials had conducted a so-called \u201cFair Share analysis\u201d designed to make sure public facilities are equitably spread over the Big Apple, according to the suit.<\/p>\n

The lawsuit seeks to halt the planned May 1 relocation date. Helayne Seidman for the NY Post<\/p>\n

And the city failed to comply with its own codes and laws by seeking to put hundreds of people in a building with strict occupancy limits, the lawsuit argues.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have taken action to stop this dangerous and unnecessarily rushed non-emergency emergency plan for several reasons,\u201d said Caleb Berger, an East Village local, in a statement.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI truly feel for these men, but should the lone intake facility for homeless men for the entire city be located on a tight residential block? I fear this rushed decision is jeopardizing both the safety of my neighbors and of these men themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mamdani chimed in on the lawsuit Tuesday during an unrelated event, contending Bellevue\u2019s conditions have been unacceptable for years.<\/p>\n

Mayor Zohran Mamdani defended the decision to close Bellevue and relocate residents to the East Village. Paul Martinka for NY Post<\/p>\n

\u201cWe received expert guidance that vacating that site was an urgent and immediate need, as opposed to a suggestion to consider in the years to come,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

City Hall officials repeated Hizzoner\u2019s assertion about Bellevue shelter\u2019s conditions.<\/p>\n

\u201cLeaving people in a space that is falling apart is a failure of our responsibility to care for our fellow New Yorkers,\u201d a spokesperson said in a statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe decision to vacate was necessary for safety, and based on clear expert guidance. Now, we have an urgent obligation to act. Transferring shelter intake to 8 E 3rd St is critical to ensuring that every New Yorker in need has access to safe, dignified shelter without delay.\u201d<\/p>\n

Additional reporting by Craig McCarthy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Enraged East Villagers sued Mayor Zohran Mamdani in a last-gasp effort to stop the relocation of hundreds of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":206093,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[61349,9467,7624,9468,2850,57,9,24,63,122,124,123,58,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-206092","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-queens","8":"tag-bowery","9":"tag-department-of-homeless-services","10":"tag-east-village","11":"tag-homeless-shelters","12":"tag-lawsuits","13":"tag-metro","14":"tag-new-york","15":"tag-new-york-city","16":"tag-nyc","17":"tag-queens","18":"tag-queens-headlines","19":"tag-queens-news","20":"tag-us-news","21":"tag-zohran-mamdani"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206092","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=206092"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206092\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/206093"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=206092"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=206092"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=206092"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}