Are you opposed in principle to a shelter in our neighborhood?

No. We understand the need for more homeless shelters in New York City and are ready to do our part. But we find that packing 170 single men in less than 10,000 square feet across the street from an elementary and middle school is hardly the best approach for anyone in our community.

Hang on, this is barely 58 sqft per person. Is that even legal?

Oddly enough, it is. Although it would be illegal for a prison - since 1985, the “basic elements necessary to ensure the safe and humane housing of inmates” in NYC include a minimum of 60 sqft per person.

The Coalition for the Homeless, in the 2023 State of the Homeless report, condemns the use of congregate shelters for single men:

“The underlying problem, of course, is the City’s continued reliance on congregate facilities for single adults – a model that is antiquated and should be left behind in favor of configurations that offer privacy, dignity, and safety for individuals in need of temporary shelter, especially given the danger of airborne infectious diseases and the inability of congregate shelters to meet the needs of those with psychiatric, physical, and cognitive disabilities. Hotels, Safe Havens, and stabilization beds are all far better options than the City’s large old congregate facilities, the use of which should be phased out as quickly as possible.”

We do not understand how the Department of Social Services and Help USA insist in creating yet another shelter that will not address the needs of the homeless.

Can’t the City find a different address?

City Hall does not choose addresses, apparently. They receive proposals by landlords and NGOs - in this case, the landlord is Jaspinder Sandhu and the NGO is Help USA, and they planned their proposal for 41-43 Beekman as a 170 single men shelter.

How about a family shelter at 41-43 Beekman?

The Department of Social Services stated that it can’t be done, and the reasons are “complicated”. We strongly feel that the reasons are, in fact, fairly simple: the landlord and the NGO would get higher reimbursements from City Hall with a packed single men shelter than they would get by giving families the minimum space that they would need.

So it’s basically a matter of making more money, no matter how that impacts our most vulnerable - be it homeless people, who need and deserve better than this plan, or school children, who need and deserve their school neighborhood to be protected.

Shouldn’t City reps meet the community to discuss this project?

Yes, that would be the standard process. And that is what we have been asking repeatedly - a town hall with all involved parts, so that we can discuss the project openly and transparently. Representatives from the Department of Social Services stated that they skipped this because of the homeless emergency declared by Mayor Adams. There are currently two emergencies declared by the Mayor - one relative to migrants (declared in 2022) and one relative to homeless families (declared in 2023). The proposed 41-43 Beekman street shelter, however, is not meant to host migrants, nor families, and it has been planned for much longer - it is mentioned in the 2021-2022 annual report published by Help USA.

Is there anything I can do?

Let our elected officials know how you feel about this proposal. Write to them, call and leave messages - let them know that you expect progress updates and that this cause is important for you.

Participate to public meetings (the Manhattan Community Board 1 is a good place to start) and register to speak up and share your perspective. It is usually better to participate in person, but Zoom is also available if you can’t.

Sign our petition and share it with all your contacts.

Are you affiliated with the Spruce Street School?

No. The Spruce Street School PS 397 is a public elementary and middle school in our neighborhood, just across the street from the address of the proposed shelter. Some of our Friends are also parents at this school, many others are not. The Spruce Street School Parent Teacher Association is not affiliated with Friends of Beekman and has its own spokespeople and positioning - please refer to their website for further information.