Thursday, October 17, 2013

Carroll Gardens homeless shelter proposal reeks of cronyism, opponents cry

A Carroll Gardens community group wants to toss a proposed W. 9th St. homeless shelter out on its rear.


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A Carroll Gardens community group wants to toss a proposed W. 9th St. homeless shelter out on its rear.



TALK about cramped quarters.


A Carroll Gardens community group continued its push to prevent an infamous landlord from opening a shelter and cramming 170 homeless men into it — and bilking city taxpayers for the privilege.


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At a public hearing Thursday, the Coalition for Carroll Gardens insisted that the city has failed to explain how it could approve the $ 30 million, five-year contract to pack so many people in the small, seven-story building at 165-167 W. 9th St., which was designed for 10 condominiums.


“I would be overjoyed to welcome homeless families into the community, but to place 170 men in such a densely-populated building doesn’t make sense,” said Paige Bellenbaum, the co-chairwoman of the group, which has been fighting the proposal for more than a year.


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The shelter pairs a Bronx-based operator, Aguila Inc., which is headed by former Department of Homeless Services Commissioner Robert Hess, with landlord Alan Lapes, who has built a notorious reputation for operating the seediest transitional shelters in the city.


“It’s quite clear that this is one of greatest business deals of all time,” said Bellenbaum. “Lapes is making a killing off his shelters. It will cost the city $ 3,000 a month per occupant to keep them there.”


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Councilman Brad Lander (D-Carroll Gardens) raised similar questions about the contract’s value, and said zoning laws and building violations may have been pushed aside to push the proposal along.


The community group has flooded the inboxes of city Buildings Department officials, asking how Lapes managed to begin converting the building into a shelter before he obtained the requisite approvals.


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Residents and officials are still demanding that the city provide evidence that Lapes resolved a host of building, safety and zoning code violations.


The shelter would include employment training services and full security, according to the Aguila proposal, which the Department of Homeless Services has endorsed and asked Mayor Bloomberg to accept.


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“The landlord for the building has worked over the past year with the Department of Buildings to adhere to all applicable codes and standards, in order to provide essential shelter for our proposed program,” a city spokeswoman said in a statement, adding that the Department of Homeless Services would weigh the community’s concerns.


Hess deferred to the Department of Homeless Services for comment, and Lapes could not be reached for comment.


Bellenbaum, among 19 residents to submit oral or written testimony against the proposed shelter Thursday morning, said the community isn’t against taking its fair share of homeless housing: A 60-bed women’s shelter in Park Slope has thrived, she said.


“It’s this provider,” she said of the plan. “It’s the inhumane concept of that many people in there.”


sgoldstein@nydailynews.com





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