Editorial reflected double standard

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To the editor:

I applaud The Riverdale Press for its concern for the homeless but find its lack of concern for community residents deplorable (“Keep homeless shelter open,” May 7). Sensible and compassionate policies to address homelessness should not conflict with understanding and addressing the needs of people who reside near homeless shelters. 

Last week’s clueless editorial criticizing the elected officials for calling for closing the homeless shelter in Wakefield showed no understanding or compassion for community residents who have suffered as a result of incompetence of a city agency and of a not-for-profit charged with running the shelter. The horrible murder of Ana Charle, the director of the Project Renewal Shelter, was tragic and possibly avoidable. The Department for Homeless Services (DHS) ignored the demands of myself and our other elected officials to provide security at the shelter.

The shelter on Bronx Boulevard, proposed by the Bloomberg Administration, opened in early 2014 over strong community opposition. We were told that it would house over 100 homeless men with substance abuse and mental health issues. Problems in and around the shelter have generated nearly 1,000 911 calls and have been a drain on the resources of the 47th precinct.

Last fall, we learned that DHS lied about who would be living in this shelter. A high percentage of the residents are men previously incarcerated for violent felonies, including dozens of convicted sex offenders. They also kept it a secret for as long as they could, and then refused to show up at a community meeting to discuss the problems at the shelter. The accused murderer of Ms. Charle was one of those convicted felons. He has a violent history. There undoubtedly are many decent people residing at this shelter, and people who have been convicted of serious crimes who have served their time should be able to try to turn their lives around. But that doesn’t mean that a community should be flooded with so many people with criminal records of this nature.   

The editorial states, “There also needs to be soul searching about how we treat homeless people, both with and without criminal records…” True. The state budget this year provides significant funding to address the homelessness problem in the city, and the mayor proposes large funding increases as well. 

There also needs to be some soul searching on the part of homeless advocates about how we treat the communities in which these shelters are housed. Those who live near that shelter, many of whom have invested their life savings in houses whose values have been severely diminished because of the problems generated by the shelter, have rights as well. Their safety and quality of life must not be sacrificed.

The rights and needs of the homeless should not conflict with the rights and needs of neighborhood residents. The so-called positive step the DHS has taken by finally providing the security we previously demanded is too little too late. We asked for the closing of this shelter because it is clear that DHS and Project Renewal are incapable of dealing with the problems there. Claiming the elected officials had no answers to the question of what would happen if the doors of the shelter were closed is simply not accurate. The residents could be relocated to various other shelters in the interim. No one is saying put them out on the streets as the absurd assertion in the editorial suggests.

And, to add insult to injury, the DHS plans to open another homeless shelter just around the corner from this one for 200 additional homeless men. Such a callous and inept decision is an example of why the top people at DHS need to look for work elsewhere. 

The Riverdale Press has every right to advocate for the needs of the homeless. But this editorial makes it clear that The Press doesn’t give a damn about the rest of the people in the neighborhood who are victims of the reckless and incompetent policy of a city agency which also doesn’t care about our communities.

Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz

Project Renewal Shelter, homelessness, Wakefield, Jeffrey Dinowitz

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