Two Important Meetings Thursday: Public Safety Near New Shelter and Historic Climate Change Lawsuit
The Alexander’s conversion into a shelter has angered some residents.
There are two important local meetings happening Thursday, Jan. 31 (tonight).
1. The NYPD will have a “build the block” community policing meeting tonight in the area where a relocated homeless shelter at The Alexander on 94th Street has caused concern among some neighbors. The meeting takes place at B’nai Jeshurun at 270 West 89th starting at 7 (doors open for refreshments at 6:30). The New York Post wrote about the shelter this week, noting that some residents are paying $120 a month for private security guards because they say that crime has gotten worse in the area. Police have said that crime is actually down in the precinct; they’ve dissuaded residents from private security efforts in the past.
We last wrote about the shelter here.
2. Teenagers are suing the US government over their failure to enact policies to curb climate change. The suit, called Youth vs. Gov, could be an important turning point. Chief legal counsel Julia Olson and some of the teens will be at the Society for Ethical Culture at 2 West 64th Street tonight starting at 6:30 (doors open at 6) to discuss. Learn more here.
ahhhhhh now the homeless are allowed to live in the neighborhood and the local progressive ‘do as i say not as I do libs’ are up in arms with ‘concern’…. The ‘problem’ is now in their back yard…. Not so keen on the preaching of ‘inclusion’ now it impacts them…
Eric this isn’t a liberal or conservative thing. The neighborhood as a whole never wanted or expected the area to be a dumping ground for the rest of the city’s homeless, drug addicts, and mental patients. Our problem is a weak community, a do-nothing CB7, and local politicians like Gale Brewer and Helen Rosenthal that won’t listen or don’t understand how bad things are.
I disagree with the statement that our electeds are out of touch with the current issues facing our community. All of the issues we were facing with Freedom House re: loitering in the streets, unsafe conditions, overcrowding will be addressed by the moving the shelter to the Alexander. The fact of the matter is that freedom house had a shitty provider and no facilities for residents to congregate. Aaron biller, the big mouth at all of the community meetings and the reason for all of these stories is only opposed to the Alexander plan because it’s on his block. A year ago he was totally on board and bullying us into agreeeing with him that freedom house needed a provider change, but is now hell bent on putting all of these folks on the street now that it was moved up onto his block. Also important to note that he is president and the sole member of his “95th street block association”. Don’t allow bullies like Biller to make you believe Gayle Brewer and Helen Rosenthal are out of touch. If you want to see action from electeds, go to community board 7 meetings and call your electeds. And important to note that CB7 just passed a resolution opposed to this move late last year.
HI Eric, I see your point although I think is best to stay away from generalizations about “libs”. and labels for those of us that have expressed our concerns and that are worried about the impact new shelters will have in the uws community. The UWS is absorbing a larger than proportional amount of shelters in terms of UWS population numbers and when compare to other neighborhoods and borrows in the city. We have a transition home for out of jail and homeless individuals at 106 W 83rd St, down the street from our home. We are experiencing serious security issues. A person living in that building attacked a young women in an attempted rape last July at 85th and CPW. She is still recovering from the attack 7 months later. The person in question was a convicted sex offender living at 106 W 83rd St. I have witness drug dealings in front of 106 W 83rd St at all times of day( there was big drug raid nearly a year ago in that building and the building next door) on broad day light across the street from PS9 when children are playing and having lunch in the school playground. My daughter was nearly attacked on her way to school in front of 106 W 83rd Street. A resident there approached her and asked her to come inside the building and told her that he could show her how to use “those legs” and more. She can no longer walk on that block after that incident out fear and for her own safety. This is one way to make space for homeless shelters in your block. The amount of men hanging in front of the building selling drugs, drinking beer, and leaving garbage behind day in and day out, is another example and reflection of their lack of a connection to the community they are a part of and they live in. I hope you will be going to the meeting tonight and I look forward to hearing about any other suggestions you might have to solving the problem of homelessness while protecting our families and our communities. Im grateful to homeless shelters in the city specially today ! There still a lot of work that needs to be done.
At some point in the nearest future all this must become a litigation issue. The elected officials are nonentities that just collect their paychecks and do photo ops. A good lawyer will find the way to get their (and the city’s) attention. This is the only way to stop the abuse of neighborhoods.
Thank you for your very informative post. It is important to hear how “real” people (our neighbors) are being affected. It makes the issue personal. I’m sorry to hear what happened to your daughter. That’s so disturbing! The upper west side is not a dumping ground. I know it is not fair to label that community as a whole dangerous, but I can’t help it. I’d rather it not be apart of the neighborhood.
Very sorry to hear about your daughter. The last summer’s incident was horrific. I can’t inderstand why the city thinks it is ok to put shelters for mentally ill and sex predators so close to schools.
How is a sex offender allowed to live across the street from an elementary school?
How do you know that the people who think crime is up are not the same ones that make those claims here?
Besides, there is nothing inconsistent in saying you think there should be shelters, and you think there should also be the necessary support and services, including policing, to go with them.
In any event, this kind of “Nyah-Nyah, I told you so” is emblematic the unproductive conversations we all seem to be having. Isn’t it time to revert to an adult level of discourse?
They are not on the only UWS neighborhood organization that pay out-of-pocket for private security to patrol the streets. So does the 102 and 103 block association, see https://www.w102-103blockassn.org. I think there are others, but I don’t have their links. Also, CB7 passed a resolution on the freedom house, see https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/manhattancb7/downloads/pdf/minutes/2018/min12_18.pdf.
“In light of the concerns of the neighbors about the relocation of the shelter at Freedom House on West 95th Street to a new location and different providers 94th Street be it resolved that the Department of Homeless Services work with the Community Board, the community and elected to officials to ensure the best solutions for the relocation of the shelter.”
102-103 has had one for ages. In fact, in light of the minimum wage increase, they were recently discussing dropping the service as the need no longer seemed so pressing, but decided to maintain a guard with fewer hours. I bet there are (or were, from the same era…1990s?) others.
I agree that such facilities need to be carefully managed and not neglected, and that the city needs to be held to that standard, but seems like I could fill up a whole cruise ship with people who are mad they can’t afford to live south of 96th and don’t feel bad about letting the world know.
Ask them for real data.
What percentage of the complaints associated with the Freedom House did they file summons & arrests for? Is it 80% or 20%? This is a measure of their effectiveness and how well they do their job.
They always state “we increased our patrols” – yet no one seems to see them, and they never provide data on their patrols such as how often per day/week, what times of day, how long they are there for, whether they simply drive their car thru or are on foot, etc.
They only talk about crime rate but never the number of arrests, summons and patrol visits.
What patrols???? Who are they trying to kid !!!Since “Mayor” Debozo unfortunately became our comrade,I rarely see patrol cars cruise by anymore and when I think it’s one it’s a traffic enforcement one.
CRIME MAY BE DOWN,BUT QUALITY OF LIFE IN THIS CITY IS IN THE TOILET AND WHOEVER THE NEXT LIB THAT’S ELECTED …GOOD LUCK TRYING TO FIX IT
So “teenagers” want to shut down the coal industry and force everyone to buy $70,000 electric cars. These are certainly some ambitious teens, and they’re smart too — they had the legal sense to go to the Ninth Circuit to press their case. No, not teens at all, sorry. Another case of socialists using kids as battering rams.
Scott, where are you getting your information about climate change from? There actually isn’t scientific dissent, there is just a lot of oil and coal money invested in creating the appearance of scientific dissent. If you plan to retire to a home in Florida someday, if you have a kid today who’s 10 and will be in the workforce until 2075, you better pray we don’t act like idiots about climate change.
All the extreme weather we have today – the deadly wildfires, the hurricanes, droughts, cold and heatwaves – is caused by 1 degree C warming that’s already in place. This is here to stay. The Paris goal, to prevent catastrophic change, is to keep warming to within another half-degree C. The climate mechanisms have exponential tipping points; they’re nonlinear. 4 degrees of warming is more than twice as catastrophic as 2. To keep to the Paris goals means cutting global carbon emissions by 45% by 2030. Not slowing the pace of growth; cutting emissions. Or else, the climate starts rapidly sliding away after 2040. There isn’t scientific dissent about this, there’s urgency. The costs to our kids are in the tens of trillions of dollars.
The average number of hurricanes making landfall in the U.S. per decade is down from what it was in 1850. I’m sure you’ll say something brilliant like “but they’re more intense!” Which if you did say, you couldn’t prove even remotely.
Scott, you didn’t answer my question: where are you getting this information from? I like to track the funding of sites that promote junk science. It’s usually Exxon or crackpot coal-mine owners. It will be interesting to see the lawsuits that seek to discover what Exxon knew and when about climate change.
At any rate, let me recommend the website climate.nasa.gov. These are scientific assessments from the NASA scientists who are smart enough to build and land rovers on Mars.
Seeking to divide and confuse is another goal. Please don’t fall for it. If you do know a scientific source better than the one I cited, then share it.
Why can’t the shelter stay where it is, but with better management? I smell a real estate deal
Finally, someone gets it. Voluminous comments about “social justice” but nothing about the profitable business that is homelessness in NYC. Three shelters on one block and no one is talking about bribes? Start asking the relevant public servants about their money and they’ll place the shelters among a less curious part of their constituencies. Follow the money, not the feelings.
Scott, these teenagers want to live in a world without the devastating effects of climate change. In fact I bet that you would also prefer this reality. Coal produces an inordinate amount of pollution – why promote it if better ways can be mobilized?
The “climate” has been changing since the beginning of time and will continue to do so.
The climate change hoax is just a way to control everyone and bankrupt America.
Wrong. Just plain wrong. There’s no financial upside to betting on junk science. What exactly are you hoping to achieve?