To: The New York State House, The New York State Senate, and Governor Andrew Cuomo
Stop the oversaturation of Shelters in ENY
Ask yourself:
Why it is easier to build shelters in East New York, RATHER THAN affordable/permanent housing?
Why there are monies/resources to build shelters in East New York, BUT there are not enough monies/resources for community centers in East New York?
Recently an abundance of homeless shelters have been established in the Brownsville and East New York neighborhoods, and several others are in the developmental stages. Our communities have become the dumping grounds for New York City’s Shelters. Brownsville and East New York are ranked 1st and 3rd amongst the city’s most concentrated areas of shelters, while other neighborhoods have ZERO/NONE. Section 203 of the New York City Charter titled Fair Share requires that there be a fair distribution of the burdens and benefits associated with city facilities. The city has clearly violated its own statutes by over-saturating our communities and failing to follow their own procedure, as outlined in Section 203 of the New York City Charter to notify residents in a timely manner. We deserve to know who and what exists in our community; and to decide what is right for our community, families and businesses. We must immediately stop the future development of turning properties into shelters and address the issue of over-saturation in the Brownsville/East New York areas.
Our research shows that of the 18 community boards in the borough of Brooklyn, most communities have 2 or 3 shelters. We have 17 shelters in East New York and we suspect there will be more, if we don’t act immediately. Our neighbors in Brownsville have 16. Additionally, these numbers do not include the unknown number of halfway houses and three quarter houses funded through DHS (NYC Department of Homeless Services). NOTE: We are not against city shelters. We realize that anyone could be caught in this situation. We are, however, against our community being used as a dumping ground for these programs.
The FACTS are, OVER SATURATION means:
Misuse/abuse of East New York’s community resources.
It cost taxpayers approximately $3000.00/month per bed in shelters vs. $1500.00/month for an affordable housing one bedroom apt.
NYC allocates monies to build shelters, BUT cut funding for daycare/senior centers; and schools.
Disruption of Residential Communities
Negative impact on the Quality of Life
Increased Criminal Activity
Loitering
Depreciated Home Values
We need your support to wage this fight against the over-saturation of shelters in our community.
Why it is easier to build shelters in East New York, RATHER THAN affordable/permanent housing?
Why there are monies/resources to build shelters in East New York, BUT there are not enough monies/resources for community centers in East New York?
Recently an abundance of homeless shelters have been established in the Brownsville and East New York neighborhoods, and several others are in the developmental stages. Our communities have become the dumping grounds for New York City’s Shelters. Brownsville and East New York are ranked 1st and 3rd amongst the city’s most concentrated areas of shelters, while other neighborhoods have ZERO/NONE. Section 203 of the New York City Charter titled Fair Share requires that there be a fair distribution of the burdens and benefits associated with city facilities. The city has clearly violated its own statutes by over-saturating our communities and failing to follow their own procedure, as outlined in Section 203 of the New York City Charter to notify residents in a timely manner. We deserve to know who and what exists in our community; and to decide what is right for our community, families and businesses. We must immediately stop the future development of turning properties into shelters and address the issue of over-saturation in the Brownsville/East New York areas.
Our research shows that of the 18 community boards in the borough of Brooklyn, most communities have 2 or 3 shelters. We have 17 shelters in East New York and we suspect there will be more, if we don’t act immediately. Our neighbors in Brownsville have 16. Additionally, these numbers do not include the unknown number of halfway houses and three quarter houses funded through DHS (NYC Department of Homeless Services). NOTE: We are not against city shelters. We realize that anyone could be caught in this situation. We are, however, against our community being used as a dumping ground for these programs.
The FACTS are, OVER SATURATION means:
Misuse/abuse of East New York’s community resources.
It cost taxpayers approximately $3000.00/month per bed in shelters vs. $1500.00/month for an affordable housing one bedroom apt.
NYC allocates monies to build shelters, BUT cut funding for daycare/senior centers; and schools.
Disruption of Residential Communities
Negative impact on the Quality of Life
Increased Criminal Activity
Loitering
Depreciated Home Values
We need your support to wage this fight against the over-saturation of shelters in our community.
Why is this important?
The over saturation of East New York Brooklyn with shelters