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October 16, 2008

Quote of the Day

quotation-icon.jpgAs much as I'd like to be generous about this and say "But the homeless need a place too" I'd like to point out the difference in day to day quality of life which occcurred in Fort Greene as SOON as the previous residential hotel for homeless men opposite BAM (the parking lot adjacent to Mark Morris is there now) was closed and then demolished. Before - when there were hundreds of beds there - Fort Greene had our garbage cans stolen almost weekly, plants stolen, other petty crime, agressive squeegee guys and radios stolen. In a famous rant Garrison Keillor - who briefly broadcast from BAM back then - talked about walking up Flatbush Ave. to BAM and noting all of the "No Radio" signs in the windows of almost every car asked "When I'm recording a radio show, it kind of makes me wonder 'why bother?'." In those days I'd have my battery stolen then I'd walk down to Park Ave. to a place that sold re-habbed batteries and buy back the one they'd stolen the week before. As soon as the building was demolished and services moved elsewhere, this constant background of petty crime stopped. Given the current financial turmoil, I'd want homeless New Yorkers to be given the best treatment possible. I think they deserve Manhattan condos.

— by Stonergut in Shelter Woes Spread From Crown Heights to Bed Stuy




Posted by Brownstoner at 3:23 PM | Comments (15)
Categories: QOTD

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while some people might talk a big game, there are very few self-professed liberals actually liberal enough to want a homeless shelter in their neighborhood. liberals have kids too.

Posted by: lowintheheights at October 16, 2008 4:16 PM

Agreed. It puts everyone in a very tough spot, trying to reconcile one's liberalism with the concept of a homeless shelter in one's neighborhood. Seems like if they put more emphasis on smaller facilities and spread them out more it would be more equitable to the various neighborhoods involved and more humane to the clientele. It seems to be these big "clearinghouse" type places like the Bedford Armory that cause a lot of the street problems.

Posted by: wasder at October 16, 2008 4:21 PM

The Town Hall tonight is NOT about not wanting the homeless shelter in our neighborhood - it is already here and has 200 men in it. It is about not wanting an additional 1200 (!) homeless men bused into Bed-Stuy each night. See text below and please come to the Town Hall tonight.

Community Alert: Town Hall Mtg Tomorrow OCT. 16th 7-9pmSt. Christopher-Ottilie Beacon Center (the big school on the corner- PS 35) 272 MacDonough (between Lewis and Marcus GarveyAdditional info Ms. Blackshear 347-325-4635; Ms. Robinson 718-574-8199; Ms. Cobbs: 347-683-5047

"Mayor Bloomberg has announced intent to close the Bellevue men's shelter in Manhattan to build a luxury hotel. The overflow of men (850) will be moved to the Sumner Avenue Armory along with the (350) men from the Atlantic Avenue Shelter. The Sumner Ave Armory has (200) men already assigned to this facility. The astounding number is overwhelming for the BedStuy community. A large number of these men are dangerous felons released from prison. Some are sexual predators, and some have mental illness. Bus loads of homeless men are being bused into the sumner Armory each night. We need each and everyone to come out and unite with an action plan that will support a better resolution. Let your voice and presence be heard on Thursday, Oct. 16, 2008 7-9pm."

Posted by: amybnyc at October 16, 2008 4:47 PM

Agree, would be wonderful if some of the homeless could have their own luxury condos in Manhattan. A win-win for everyone.

Posted by: mopar at October 16, 2008 5:37 PM

Unfortunately the shortsightedness of the locals and city officials the typical wonderful opportunity was wasted.

There was a time when the BAM complained on the lack of housing for visiting artists. Yet I had a conversation with an insider at the BAM who described how, working with Ratner, this particular hotel was sold and demolished. Time and time again we see old, wonderful buildings fall to less than savory uses, demand they be removed and watch a part of our soul depart. For every local who lost a radio, there were people who had wedding receptions in the Granada. Only our inability to fix neighborhoods in any fashion short of destroying it first gets us our sterile retribution. Its safe and clean and MINDNUMBINGLY DULL.

To the richer 1% who had cars, maybe you shouldn't have flaunted your (relative) wealth. Or maybe you shouldn't have used your escape pod to ignore the problems you were reminded of on a daily basis.

Posted by: bkn4life at October 16, 2008 7:12 PM

As someone who grew up in Kips Bay Towers, which is located kitty corner from the Bellevue homeless shelter, I can say that the shelter had little impact on the neighborhood, at least that I ever noticed. Crime was not an issue and there are plenty of kids who live in the neighborhood, so clearly people do not consider the neighborhood unsafe. In fact, as a kid I used to walk past the homeless shelter everyday on my way to school. I suppose every now and then i might have seen someone muttering to themselves, but where in NYC don't you see that? And it didn't seem to have a big impact on property values either. The point is that residents of a neighborhood can peacefully coexist with a homeless shelter and a shelter in the neighborhood does not spell doom and gloom.

Posted by: Left Hook at October 16, 2008 7:18 PM

Blame the victims bkn4life. Right.

Posted by: jfss at October 16, 2008 7:21 PM

jfss:

are you really feeling victimized over a philco?

Posted by: bkn4life at October 16, 2008 7:27 PM

wasder and lowintheheights- the thing to remember is that Crown Heights and Bed-Stuy are a dumping ground for these types of shelters. There are plenty of liberals here and dealing with the numerous shelters and facilities. All we're saying is be fair and respectful. CHN and Bed-Stuy have far more than their fair share- now its time for other neighborhoods to do their part. It's not liberals saying no to shelters, it's about everyone saying enough is enough.

Posted by: bxgrl at October 16, 2008 7:57 PM

the only thing i dont get is why worse neighborhoods arent getting picking. Crown heights isnt the best, but it's got a solid middle class base.

Why dont they pick on Brownsville or the S Bronx or something?

Posted by: slick at October 17, 2008 1:23 AM

Wow I didn't realize only the top 1% of the wealthiest can afford cars in Brooklyn. That boro is poorer than I, or anyone, imagined. So where did you get those stats bklyn4life?

Posted by: Iknow at October 17, 2008 9:16 AM

bxgirl--where were you last night?

I totally agree that Bed Stuy and Crown Heights have been disproportionately dumped on in re homeless shelters. The problem is nobody wants them and they have to be somewhere. But more equitable distribution and smaller, better managed facilities would probably help.

Posted by: wasder at October 17, 2008 3:41 PM

to iknow...

its a swag, but an effective one.

in that area there was this seedy hotel with homeless folks. lets say 200 of them. going northish the tallest projects in the city.
to the south a dense rundown neighborhood. and you are in the third densest county in the country. and many commercial streets where you cant park for days at a time.


because i am stubborn, ill stick by the 1%. but ill wager you a case of beer that its not far off. nowhere near a car per person in the brownstone area. 80 buildings per block, 4 apartments per building, approximately 3(families) residents per apartment. thats 960 people per residential block. there may be parking for 2 cars per house so its 800 dont have a car and 160 do even on a low density block. 80% dont have a car in the best of circumstances. add in the projects and it goes way down.

Posted by: bkn4life at October 17, 2008 4:15 PM

To back up bkn4life: the Sumner Avenue Armory is in Councilmember Vann's district. The Bedford-Atlantic Armory is just across the line in Tish James's district. The Tri-State Transportation Campaign has stats for car ownership in Vann's district here:

http://www.tstc.org/reports/cpsheets/NYCcouncil_factsheet_district%2036.pdf

Percent of households earning less than $40,000 a year: 70.2
Percent of households without a vehicle: 71.4
Average annual income of households with a vehicle: $53,475
Average annual income of households without a vehicle: $26,376

Not far off at all.

Posted by: Capn Transit at October 18, 2008 6:02 PM

Similar stats for James's district, especially when you take into account the gentrification of Fort Greene and Prospect Heights:

http://www.tstc.org/reports/cpsheets/NYCcouncil_factsheet_district%2035.pdf

Posted by: Capn Transit at October 18, 2008 6:08 PM

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