Did DHS originally indicate that the Armory’s population would be expanded and, if not, where did this information come from?
Thanks.

I posted this on Brownstoner also, as I think this is an issue of the highest importance, not just to Bed Stuy, but also to all of Brooklyn.

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What they’re talking about here is increasing the number of homeless men in the Sumner Ave shelter to 700% of the current number.

Let me restate that number:
700%

Not only that, but the shelter is currently designated as a “working” shelter, meaning they will only admit men who are employed or seeking employment.

Not so with the new plan.

By the Bureau of Housing and Shelter Services’ own numbers, this would be 28% of the total single adult homeless male population they are serving – all in a single neighborhood. If you don’t believe me, look at their numbers here:

http://www.nyc.gov/html/dhs/downloads/pdf/dailyreport.pdf

Please keep in mind that single males are the most crime-prone segment of the homeless population.

This does not only affect Bed Stuy and Crown Heights, but all of Brooklyn. The facility at Bellvue was surrounded by a healthy economic matrix and an active, powerful political constituency.

The new plan will drop the main intake center into one of the most beaten-down areas of Brooklyn. The economic revival of the past 6-7 years isn’t going to continue if this is carried out. All those property owners in Clinton Hill, Ft. Greene, Prospect Heights and Park Slope will feel like they’re living next door the South Bronx of the 70s too. It’s only a 25 minute walk to any of these neighborhoods.

This neighborhood simply cannot shoulder this large a burden – it has already shouldered too large share of the city’s poor. Just look at a map of NYCHA properties and you will see what I mean.

On top of all this, the plan does not serve the very people it purports to, the homeless. Concentrating poverty in an area with an economy that is only starting to grow does not help anyone, least of all the most impoverished.