Homeless Shelter Sleep Inn

The Department of Homeless Services has confirmed Sunset Park’s Sleep Inn is being converted into a 150-man homeless shelter.

DHS made the announcement Monday, following Brownstoner’s publication of a letter circulated online complaining about an increase of homeless men — some allegedly passed out on the street or in doorways — in the area. DHS told DNAinfo that they’d recently rented 100 rooms in the hotel for homeless men but would convert the entire building into a shelter within the next two weeks.

While yesterday’s letter specified that male residents at the former hotel on 247 49th Street were allegedly unscreened overflow from East New York’s Forbell Shelter, DNAinfo reports that all shelter residents will either have jobs or will be actively seeking employment. Furthermore, sex offenders will not be allowed residency, according to the DHS.

Nonprofit group and social services agency Samaritan Village will operate the shelter, according to a Facebook post by City Councilman Carlos Menchaca.

Despite adamant protest by the community, expressed in the letter, DNAinfo has found that the district in fact has significantly fewer shelters than other neighborhoods in the city. Sunset Park does, however, have an abundance of low-cost hotels. However, these have not proved nearly as controversial.

[Source: DNA | Photo: Yelp]

Related Stories
Sunset Park Residents Upset Over Under-the-Radar Homeless Shelter
Shocking Conditions in Brooklyn Homeless Shelters, City Investigation Finds
More Evictions at Troubled PLG Homeless Shelter at 60 Clarkson Avenue


What's Your Take? Leave a Comment

  1. Good question. You know the people and activists I spoke with this summer were pretty open-minded about this whole thing. Many have seen hard times themselves and they are not averse to having homeless people in their midst. But as the numbers of different populations started to pump up at an alarming rate, they started to ask, How much is FR’s fair share? And who is getting rich at our expense? It is well known that much NYCHA housing is out there, along with drug rehabilitation centers, nursing homes, psychiatric facilities, etc. The 73 sex offenders really threw them. I mean, it’s not a huge zip code and there are loads of kids. It really wasn’t a case of NIMBY. They just felt they had legitimate concerns, especially after all they had done to rebuild the area after the storm.

  2. Good question. You know the people and activists I spoke with this summer were pretty open-minded about this whole thing. Many have seen hard times themselves and they are not averse to having homeless people in their midst. But as the numbers of different populations started to pump up at an alarming rate, they started to ask, How much is FR’s fair share? And who is getting rich at our expense? It is well known that much NYCHA housing is out there, along with drug rehabilitation centers, nursing homes, psychiatric facilities, etc. The 73 sex offenders really threw them. I mean, it’s not a huge zip code and there are loads of kids. It really wasn’t a case of NIMBY. They just felt they had legitimate concerns, especially after all they had done to rebuild the area after the storm.

  3. Wow, great research. Does not surprise me. These folks are expanding at an exponential rate. The FR “hotel” owner was identified because he came to CB meetings to swear on a stack of Bibles that the building really was a hotel. He has another lot adjacent to this one and wants to build another. Not sure where that stands. The three-quarter housing gang has been more difficult to identify, but the trail leads back to the hotel.

    The City has made this much more profitable than Section 8. They are just following the money.

1 2 3 6