Ranging in price from $2.395 million to $4.395 million, our picks for open houses to see this weekend are found in Boerum Hill, Park Slope and Prospect-Lefferts Gardens.
A planned homeless shelter in Flatbush is on track for a 2022 completion after multiple delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Located at a currently empty plot of land at 21 Duryea Place near Flatbush Avenue, the haven for the unhoused will be operated by service provider Black Veterans for Social Justice — an organization that manages numerous other shelters around the Five Boroughs with a hands-on approach aimed at lifting residents back on their feet, a rep told members of local Community Board 14.
“Clients do not lay around,” said Jelani Mashariki on Oct. 21. “They are actively involved in the services we provide on a daily basis.”
The refuge will provide temporary housing for 200 men, who will stay at the shelter for an average of 90 to 120 days before they are placed in permanent housing, according to Mashariki.
The shelter will share Duryea Place with a facility that houses people with mental illness, along with a loading dock of Kings Theatre, whose entrance is around the corner — leading some community members to speculate that it would be too much for the small block to handle, and that interactions between the three entities could be troublesome.
“While residents all over the city have a responsibility towards our brothers and sisters who are street homeless, this is a lot to bear on this particular community,” said board member Shawn Campbell.
A view towards the proposed site and the rear of the Kings Theatre in 2019. Photo by Susan De Vries
The general manager at Kings Theatre added her worries that shelter residents may pester theatre-goers while they stand in line.
“We already have issues with panhandling and harassment, instances of inappropriate activity,” said Stephanie Tomlin. “We’re certainly hopeful that will not be the case this time around.”
Tomlin added that, though the theater has concerns, they were committed to being good neighbors to the shelter.
“We are committed to being good partners, and giving you the support that you need,” she said. “We just ask that you play nicely in the sandbox.”
For his part, Mashariki tried to assuage the fears with commitments to employing security guards along their perimeter, mandating a 10 pm curfew — and saying that residents would be required to live by their “good neighbor policy.”
“If we see clients are hanging out and we can identify that it’s our clients, we engage them and let them know we have a good neighbor policy,” he said. “Residents understand that though this is temporary housing, they are being temporarily housed in a community, and we want to be benefits to the community and not issues.”
Editor’s note: A version of this story originally ran in Brooklyn Paper. Click here to see the original story.
Related Stories
Sign up for amNY’s COVID-19 newsletter to stay up to date on the latest coronavirus news throughout New York City. Email tips@brownstoner.com with further comments, questions or tips. Follow Brownstoner on Twitter and Instagram, and like us on Facebook.
The imposing Castle Rock, perched above the Hudson, may not be everyone's vision of a home restoration project, but this Gilded Age manse offers stunning views, a fascinating history and a challenge to the old house lover.
The Department of City Planning is restarting the clock on the highly contentious Gowanus rezoning, and plans a series of meetings before kicking off the official public review process.
In the News
This one-bedroom in an 1890s flats building in the Cobble Hill Historic District has a fairly open floor plan, bits of original character and in-unit laundry.
Benjamin Driesler was a busy man, designing hundreds of homes in Flatbush and Long Island, while also contributing to the architectural landscape of brownstone Brooklyn.
The space is currently being used as a temporary fulfillment center for Greene Grape’s grocery delivery, mail order, gift basket and corporate gift business.
In the News
A rare bit of mid-century modern amidst the 19th century rows of Brooklyn Heights, this 1960s Willow Place abode was home to the architects behind its design, Joseph and Mary Merz.
Brooklyn Public Library's Wolcott Street stacks were supposed to undergo a $15 million revamp starting this fall to flood proof the building and add space for area bookworms.
