By Gus Saltonstall
Permits were filed with the city last week for a new 12-story building at 105 West 108th Street, between Amsterdam and Columbus avenues.
The proposed Upper West Side building would be 122-feet tall, with 38,703 square-feet designated for residential space, and 14,108 square-feet for community facility space, according to the permit.
The owner of the new building permit is Paul Freitag, the CEO of the West Side Federation for Senior and Supportive Housing (WSFSSH), which is a nonprofit organization that provides affordable housing and services to seniors.
WSFSSH already operates a state-of-the-art, affordable housing complex that opened in 2021 for nearly 200 low-income and formerly homeless seniors on the same block at 143 West 108th Street.
In terms of the proposed new building, there is an existing three-story structure at 103-107 West 108th Street, which has a still-operating parking garage on the ground floor. A spokesperson from WSFSSH told West Side Rag that the city has been in contact with the parking garage’s ownership about its upcoming demolition, for which a permit has not yet been filed.
Construction of the nonprofit’s second building on West 108th Street was in the original 2017-18 plan for the site.
The new building will be funded by public and private sources, and the timeline for construction will be dependent on when that money will be awarded. The spokesperson told the Rag that they hope construction will begin as early as 2025, and then take around 24 months to complete.
The proposed building will be a stand-alone, affordable senior housing project with onsite social services for formerly homeless seniors, who will occupy approximately 30 percent of the estimated 84 apartments.
The other 70 percent of units will house low-income seniors.
Unlike the nearby, larger WSFSSH building, the proposed new property will house senior citizens exclusively.
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That’s great news! We get 84 new apartments! The existing dilapidated low rise building being used as a parking garage is not consistent with the neighborhood character
Excellent news. I parked my car in that garage for a while and the building was indeed dilapidated, though convenient for me. I was concerned that the site would become yet another pricey skyscraper, and am glad that it’s being earmarked for affordable and supportive housing.
We are in the housing crisis and this is exactly the kind of housing that people always say that we need and they would support. Can local officials look into modifying the zoning so that this can be taller?
Seniors especially need reliable bus service.
This housing underscores that “open streets” needs to end here as it reroutes the M11.
People – especially elderly and those with mobility issues – need and deserve full MTA bus transit access.
Yes DOT needs to end Open Streets and allow regular bus routes to resume
“ The proposed building will be a stand-alone, affordable senior housing project with onsite social services for formerly homeless seniors, who will occupy approximately 30 percent of the estimated 84 apartments.”
Who occupy’s the other 70% of apartments?
Hi Dy E, thanks for reading and the question. The other 70 percent of units will be for low-income seniors.
Great, yet another homeless shelter on the UWS.
I am formerly homeless due to very serious illness, disability and a natural disaster that took out the house I owned. I’m in my 3rd year in a building like this. It’s made it possible for me to live independently, to keep ahead of my medical issues, and to stay out of the shelter system. If I could go back to work I would but that’s just beyond me now. I am on SSA disability. Most of the people in my building are just like me. Older folks with health issues. They’re a pretty quiet bunch.
There’s a BIG difference between this building and a shelter. The UWS was my home in my 20’s and I’m very happy to be living here again. It’s transit friendly and mostly walkable even for me with my mobility issues. I’ve got parks, museums, the zoo if I feel up to it. UWS for the most part is a pretty friendly neighborhood and I really missed that living elsewhere.
It’s a small place but I don’t mind that. It’s just lovely to be in my own space and to not have to deal with the chaos and abuse that IS the NYC shelter system.
thank you, Maggy. I believe stories like yours help people understand why we need supportive housing.
That is an appalling statement and untrue. Permanent housing is very different than a shelter. In fact, certain groups and types of permanent housing are protected by city, state and federal Fair Housing Laws. Neighbors who continue to violate these human rights laws and take steps to stop such housing (going beyond free speech), will be subjected to legal action. Protected groups include people with disabilities, including mental and physical disabilities, familial status, race, religion and more.
In addition, West Side Federation for Senior and Supportive Housing (WSFSSH), has a long history as excellent providers of desperately need housing for our older citizens.
I agree, without sarcasm.
Supportive housing isn’t a homeless shelter
Read again. It’s not a “homeless shelter.” It’s a residential building and the residents will be low-income seniors.
Belated queue the complainers!
I approve this project and want to see more such housing. On the Upper East Side, East Village, Bowery, Chelsea, too
Good! Housing for low-income seniors (and for those who complain about the portion designated for the previously homeless – there are all too many seniors who have been pushed into homelessness because of adverse economics and gentrification), is an important goal and a worthy investment in the neighborhood and the city. Having social services on site can be an added help, as well.
Virtually all seniors in the neighborhood live in rent regulated apartments. As such, their rent is largely unchanged due to gentrification.
Liberals love to rant that gentrification causes homelessness but they can’t provide a single example of anyone becoming homeless due to gentrification.
These seniors are homeless because they have/had mental health and substance abuse problems. Stop blaming their situation on a changing neighborhood.
I’ll provide an example, not necessarily of homelessness but of senior forced out of affordable housing: The Williams, 95th and West End. We lost 400 units of affordable senior housing due to gentrification. It has been a construction sire for years and was a great loss to the neighborhood.
Actually when I was homeless and in the shelter quite a few of the elderly women were there because they got priced right out of their ability to afford apartments that they had been in for decades and yes, while substance abuse and mental issues are a very real thing in the homeless population not everyone was dealing with that. I was homeless for six years almost due to chronic illness, autoimmune disease. I don’t drink, smoke or do any kinds of drugs and I’m not mentally ill to the point where it’s even an issue either.
A lot of these people are just getting old or have become disabled. They can’t work so they can’t make the increasing rent. They get shoved into homeless shelters because relatives don’t care. Being in a disabled shelter was like being in an old folks home sometimes. The relatives would come in and take their old person out to lunch, bring them a small gift or two but then leave them there and go back to their lives.
It made me so sad at times to see that.
My building they try to make it a community. We have social events like playing bingo or playing board games. We have a club room and they do movie night. At least they care enough about the residents to do that…
Thank you AnnieNYC
Wonderful to see all the supportive comments from my UWS neighbors. Yes, we need this housing!
While I am all for the supportive housing for Sr’s, the 100th-110th St portion (aka Manhattan Valley), seems to be home to an existing and rapidly growing and disproportionate recipient of supportive housing, a great deal of which are homeless shelters.
Neighborhoods are best when there is balance and economic (and otherwise) diversity. While I welcome the above development, it’s time supportive housing is spread out around many other neighborhoods Vs piling on in a certain few areas.
This part of the neighborhood has ALWAYS had supportive housing. going back 40+ years.
Again, please note that supportive housing is permanent housing and very different from a shelter. Unfortunately, a lot of misconceptions exist about supportive housing, which is often housing to help provide extra support for those living with disabilities and/or elderly folks. Luckily, civil rights laws such as the Fair Housing Laws protect this type of housing and make it illegal to take specific steps to stop such housing, such as interfering with a bank loan, etc.
Like Grandpa Willie used to say, “A cat can have kittens in the oven, but that don’t make ’em biscuits.”
Today’s euphemistic ‘supportive housing’ is tomorrow’s ‘homeless shelter’.
You know it, I know it, and Grandpa Willie knew it. Even the cat and the kittens know it.
That is preposterous and very cold and callous. That kind of thinking does not belong in a society that is committed to caring for all its citizen, including the more vulnerable. I am proud to live on the Upper West Side where our neighbors and leaders are committed to ALL citizens and being sure as many people as possible have the housing they need.
How is this fair? My parents worked for forty years, saved and cannot afford to live on UWS. They do not qualify for subsidized housing because their income in retirement is too high since they always saved a lot. However someone who did not bother to save can live on UWS and they cannot? How is this fair? How does this encourage good habits of saving and providing for one’s own retirement rather than becoming a burden on the taxpayers?
Neither could I without supportive housing but I never planned on coming back here. I had a house, a car, a decent bank account and the ability to work before major illness hit me. The illness nearly killed me 3X and then a tropical storm took out my house, my car etc. By the time it was all done I was too ill to work and homeless. I headed back to NYC because at least there was some kind of social services program here. It took me six years I finally landed here on the UWS back in a neighborhood I’d spent most of my 20’s in.
None if it was planned but I’m housed, happy and exceedingly grateful for what I’ve got. Life doesn’t always go how you plan. There are some things you just can’t predict and plan for. What I thought I’d have and worked so hard for all went away in one very bad year. It would be six more before I found some peace here on the UWS. Ironically I ended up full circle and back living where I always wanted to be.
Maggy,
That raises an important point – the inconsistency of services state to state.
I guess it seems like you had grown up in a state that does not have reliable social services or “safety net” services, then came to NYC, then returned to that state but experienced significant losses there, and then subsequently moved to NYC.
Yeah, I had to. My Dad was elderly and ailing and determined to live down South. He finally passed and in the year or so after all hell broke lose for me. It was a very inhumane state to live in, especially if you were ill and disabled. No social services whatsoever.
I loved NYC and always wanted to come back. It was the right decision for me in the end and I’m glad I made it but it was not an easy time the six years it took for me to get settled again.
I love my neighborhood though. I’m glad to be back here. I do run into NIMBY people sometimes but for the most part it’s the same neighborhood I remember in terms of meeting nice people. UWS is pretty cool as neighborhoods go. 🙂
Absolutely, this is welfare (positive connotation) for our most vulnerable residents.
It’s called a ‘social safety net’. Go to europe. It’s everywhere
The social safety net does not mean anyone who wants to get to live in luxury neighborhoods for cheap.
Not true! Mike Bloomberg called living in NYC the ultimate luxury good! I am all for helping people to avoid starvation or dying from lack of medical care or living on the street! Living in Manhattan however is a luxury, and we should not provide this! Provide free housing on Staten Island where my in-laws live for 1/4 the price or upstate for 1/10 the price. In Europe, they do NOT build housing for the poor in the center of Paris or Vienna.
Don’t ask reasonable, rational questions about your tax payments. It’s not allowed.
This is absolutely wonderful!!! We need more projects like this throughout the city!
Wonderful. Greatly needed. Hope it come true!
While calling supportive housing a homeless shelter is callous, it’s fair to point out that this is government supported housing.
That means that tax dollars are paying for services and upkeep, potentially forever. Had this been developed into market rate housing, the city could have gotten a ton of property tax revenue that could pay for supportive services across the city.
There’s perhaps an intangible benefit to subsidized services in a high cost neighborhood, but it’s not economically efficient.
There does seem to be an influx of market rate buildings as well. At least 3 fairly large fancy condo buildings between 96 and 103rd have started occupancy, several others under construction as well. I’m new to the neighborhood so not sure what was in their place before – but these are sure to generate robust property tax dollars given the selling prices of the units.
UWS newbie,
There were previously older low-rise buildings.
It is not unusual for landlords to hold apartments vacant and then sell
empty/near-empty buildings for luxury development.
In the most egregious situations, landlords try to force tenants out….
Maybe they should add another 10 stories of market rate housing to help pay for the upkeep and provide additional tax revenue for the city.
There is definitely need for affordable housing for NYC elderly.
But surprised to see supportive comments for this project from a few posters who in the past have criticized the existence of rent stabilization.
Rent protection is essential for elderly New Yorkers.
Good to hear about this project.
But am not clear – will this housing be for elderly low-income New Yorkers in bad housing or in the shelter system?
Or can non-New Yorkers who come to NYC and enter the shelter system also qualify?
The West Side Federation found my long, lost homeless brother in a shelter and took him in and provided the support he needed. I will always be grateful to them in providing him a stable, clean home and the 24 hour on site staff to look after him when he himself could not.