By Carol Tannenhauser
The news this week that the city has opened two new emergency shelters for asylum seekers on the Upper West Side struck some neighborhood residents as insult on top of injury, coming in the wake of the controversy over city plans to open a safe haven this month on West 83rd Street for homeless people living on the street.
“Bottom line is, they are bombarding us,” Donna Grace told the New York Post. Grace, who said she attends Redeemer Presbyterian church’s community group near one of the emergency shelters, told the paper: “It’s going to be the beginning of a gradual decline of our beautiful, historic, desirable neighborhood.”
“I think the real question to be asked…is why in the world would you put more people here on the UWS?” wrote Cathy Bernstein, an Upper West Side resident, who emailed the Post story out of the blue to the Rag.
Confirming details about the so-called “migrant shelters,” at the Belnord Hotel, on West 87th Street between Amsterdam and Broadway, and the Riverside Terrace Residence, on West 88th between Broadway and Riverside Drive, has not been easy. But after some back and forth with city staff and elected officials, here’s what we learned:
On March 7, 2022, Mayor Eric Adams declared a state of emergency in New York City as a result of the influx of migrants, mostly from South America, into the city’s homeless shelter system. Many of the migrants were bused here after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced his state would send migrants detained at the southern U.S. border to New York City as part of a political effort to demand more border security by the federal government.
A city official this week told the Rag that since then, over 53,900 migrant asylum seekers arriving in New York have been offered shelter; as of this week, over 33,900 are currently in the city’s care. To accommodate these numbers, the city has opened 100 emergency shelters and eight humanitarian emergency response and relief centers. Asked if any were on the Upper East Side, which a WSR report showed had the city’s smallest population of people served by the city’s Department of Homeless Services, the official said she was not sure.
One of those emergency shelters was opened last August at the Park West Hotel, on Central Park West between 106th and 107th streets. In October WSR reported on some of the asylum seekers living there. The opening of the Park West shelter did not set off the kind of rancor and outrage now being expressed about the Belnord and the Riverside Terrace Residence. In fact, asylum seekers interviewed by the Rag said neighbors had been welcoming, bringing them clothes, food and toys for their children.
So what has caused such vocal hostility to the opening of two more emergency shelters?
City Councilmember Gale Brewer thinks it may be the result of misinformation about who will be placed in the shelters, which Brewer and the city official said would mainly house migrant families.
“Families with children,” Brewer said, practically barking out her words in a phone call with the Rag. She had another meeting to attend. “Mothers and babies… responsible families, let’s put it that way.”
Brewer said she had met some of the families and visited the new emergency shelters. “They’re pretty calm and they all want to work,” she said. “Most of them are working, even though I know they’re not supposed to be, they’re working.”
Will local homeless families also be housed in these shelters? Yes, they could be, a city official confirmed in a phone call with the Rag. If a family is “in crisis, we will send them there,” under the city’s “right to shelter” law, and because it is “the right thing to do.” But, the official added, the “majority [of those in the new emergency shelters] are migrants.”
Brewer said she understood that “nearly 100% at the Riverview Terrace are migrants.” At the Belnord Hotel, she said, “I’m not sure if it’s parents or just mothers with small children on a very short-term basis.”
“What I’m telling you,” Brewer concluded, “is that these are not murderers. These are families. You’ve got mothers and babies and little children.”
Two things:
1. I’m under 2 blocks from both the Belnord and Riverside and I’m out on foot in this neighborhood daily. If I hadn’t read that these hotels were being used as immigrant shelters I would never have known.
2. We have 9 million unfilled jobs in this country and absent immigration our workforce is actually shrinking (example 200,000 fewer people were born in 2002, and are turning 21 this year, than were born in 1958 and are turning 65). These immigrants have come here to work and start new lives.
Get them work permits and let them go where the jobs are!
What about the thousands in Europe and elsewhere who want to emigrate to USA but are doing it the proper legal way. For that they are kept waiting in their home country for ten, fifteen or more years until paperwork is processed.
I have volunteered at other shelters, and the city puts the immigrants in touch with job agencies, and frankly many of these folks are resourceful enough to find jobs on their own. Many of these immigrants have a job a couple of days after they arrive, and one of the issues they have is that they need someone to watch their kids at the shelter as they begin to work and save up for their own place.
I would urge the people here to actually help and volunteer in these shelters, it is clear that many of you would be surprised at how many of these folks are employed, hard working, and simply trying to do their best and provide for their families.
By federal figures majority of these migrants have not yet been given any sort of asylum or immigration status, thus do not have a SSN.
As such any employment found joins the already high level of underground economy in this city and state.
They do not pay taxes but these migrants themselves and children will consume vast amounts of services such as but not limited to housing, education and healthcare.
Actually, when they get jobs at unscrupulous places like trump’s golf courses, they routinely get fake social security numbers (the managers hiring them direct them to the people who can generate the fake paperwork), and they pay billions in taxes. And the social security payments? Nobody collects against them because the numbers are fake.
I’m using the trump example because the process there was well documented in the Washington Post. But rest assured it occurs regularly and in many sectors including construction and midwestern meat packing companies.
How do you know they are all looking for jobs? How do you know there are no terrorists there staying under the radar, like with 9/11 until ready to strike? Are they vetted? Do you know who vetted them? How do you know if some are puppets of the drug cartels? A lot of assumptions to put your family at possible risk. Things are always calm…before the storm.
Have you checked under your bed for communists lately?
Wondering….
Currently, how is the City placing NYC families who are homeless/coming into the shelter system?
If a Manhattan family (actual NYC resident) becomes homeless (evicted, dangerous building conditions, fire, DV, doubled/tripled etc) is that family placed in a Manhattan family shelter or hotel?
Or are they being sent to the boroughs because the Manhattan space is at capacity with “asylum” seekers bused from Texas?
I have no expertise here, but what I understand from what I’ve read is that these shelters have been designated as emergency shelters which puts them on a different footing than those already in the system.
Families are required to apply at the PATH center in the Bronx. Applicants are sent to an assessment center for processing (medical tests, proof of homelessness, etc) then if approved, are assigned a “home” shelter in one of the boroughs. Not everyone wants to stay in Manhattan because facilities can be cramped and very old.
Obviously asylum seekers are not going through this process, and it would make sense that federal funding is allocated to pay for hotels (I don’t know that it is but I assume it has to be) – just like FEMA funding paid for desegregation placements of shelter residents into hotels during COVID. Now, if DHS/HRA funding is paying for hotels for asylum seekers, then it won’t be fair to the locals.
The feds are not paying for the hotels
Why does it matter if people were bussed here from Texas? My grandparents came here from Poland, Russia and Austria all seeking asylum when there were no asylum laws. We are all from somewhere else and we are all better for it. The important question is this – if there are unfilled jobs available and people who have nothing (regardless of what part of the world they are from) are capable and willing to fill them then let’s help them to help themselves and to help us because we all probably need their services in one way or another. As for those who are unable or unwilling to contribute to our City’s economy someone smarter than me has to figure it out. But I am hoping that rather than placing a burden on NYC, the A-hole Mr. Abbott helped us fill jobs which will help us to live our lives and if in the next 2 generations of those who were on the busses from Texas or anyplace else are able to establish the same thing as asylum seekers such as my grandparents who came by ship, then this City will prosper and we should all do our parts to help make that happen because we and our descendants will all benefit together with the “asylum” seekers!
To JHB-
My question is not about immigration policy…..
My question is about the City’s obligation to provide shelter to anyone who needs it and how in the current situation that might impact homeless New Yorkers -residents of NYC who have become homeless for any number of reasons
The City’s obligation to provide shelter includes anyone, even if not a NY resident.
That includes people from out of state ot out of country.
NYC homeless are sent to violent congregate shelters with disgusting food, theft, terrible security and no one cares. The conditions are appalling. These people get Manhattan hotel rooms, new clothes, fresh ‘culturally appropriate’ food delivered daily and anything else they desire. Remember the migrant center with xboxes?
JHB-
I too would be interested in learning more about how the City is dealing now with placement of NYC residents who become homeless, especially families.
That is – is the City prioritizing non-residents?
If a Manhattan family becomes homeless, is the City placing the family in Manhattan- or is Manhattan space at capacity
That’s done under contract with the Red Cross, and there are a group of shelters, separate form homeless ones, used for that purpose. It’s a decades old system.
Paul-
My understanding is that fire victims are generally handled by the Red Cross.
But families who become homeless (for example eviction, kicked out of doubled up housing) and seek help from City DHS are placed by City DHS in either a contracted residence-shelter (like WIN) or a hotel which has some case services via city contract.
But DHS decides where the placement will be? What borough? Where there is space?
Fire, full or partial building collapse, vacate orders. Which is most of what you need in your original comment.
Any idea if it’s still possible to donate to refugees, and if so, where?
You can donate clothing and shoes in good condition to the church on 86th between Bway and west end on Sundays between 12-2 and Monday mornings about 8:30-11.
Shoes are especially needed, as well as clothing for teenagers, and men’s clothing. Think of everyday clothes- they do not need dress shirts and high heels, but more casual things.
Thank you, Eve
The church is St. Paul and St. Matthew’s at the corner of West End and 86th Street. Side entrance between West End and Broadway.
The “right to shelter” nonsense is at the root of this. Someone point me to any first-class world city in, say, Europe where you can just show up and demand accommodation. Madness.
Berlin — and all over Germany — they house migrants who have arrived seeking asylum.
That is not what right to shelter means.
Everyone seems to be complaining about how housing is unaffordable on the UWS but somehow we can provide affordable housing for the homeless and illegal migrants.
Twenty years ago or so I there was a women’s shelter on CPW down the block from a older buddy on 107th and CPW. Abused families, worthy cause. But at night, they hung out on the street with their abusive significant others often showing up, with mayhem, or at least really loud and threatening arguments, ensuing. I wasn’t there enough times to know if anyone was assaulted, but seemed imminent enough that I scurried away ASAP when leaving. Residents of that neighborhood should have had a pretty thick skin in general, but this kept some of them indoors, addicted and documented as violent men on your stoop a different deal. What’s the solution? IDK, but I sure as heck don’t trust that the City’s priority is to keep residents safe.
Will people finally read between the lines?
“Department of Homeless Services, the official said she was not sure” if any emergency shelters are opening on the UES. An official does not know? Of course they know. They said the same thing in the CB7 meeting when they were asked about the UES. She said she “didn’t know”
Gale Brewer will welcome every single supportive housing for those who need special services every time no matter how many we have already here. Confirmed already – there will be 3 supportive housing/shelters on West 83rd st, 3 supportive housing/shelters on West 97th street, 2 on West 95th st, `2 on West 99th street, one on West 94th, one on 107th one going on 108th..and…and…and…
West Side Rag – when you put the numbers up on how many shelter beds there are on the UWS, you did NOT count the number of supportive housing beds. THAT’S the real number. The new Fortune Society supportive housing going in on West 97th is for the formerly incarcerated and homeless and they say they are NOT a “shelter”. They are not counted in the numbers.
This is how the city and Gale Brewer are fooling you.
City is opening a shelter on UES at hotel Bentley on York between 61st and 62nd streets.
https://eastsidefeed.com/real-estate/bentley-hotel-to-become-sanctuary-for-families/
https://www.bentleyhotelnyc.com
“The Bentley Hotel is owned by Stuart and Jay Podolsky (via “Amsterdam Hospitality Group”), who’ve been at the center of controversy for years. The Bentley was also one of the many New York City hotels which the city paid to house homeless shelter tenants during the pandemic.”
To your point of reading between the lines : “What I’m telling you,” Brewer concluded, “is that these are not murderers. These are families. You’ve got mothers and babies and little children.” Is Brewer being too emotional? Is Brewer admitting that there are instances where it could be said that murderers are being shelter at other locations ? or is Brewer saying this to make a strong distinction between murderers needing shelter vs mother’s with small children needing a home and the opportunity to a new life. I wish Brewer was more transparent.
Her agenda is hard to figure out. Isn’t it ?
Considering that there was a murder at the 316 West 97th street supportive housing 2 months ago and the recent strangling murder of a 15 year old stepson by a man in the Fortune Society’s supervised program, yes, there are murderers being sheltered.
This is the same Fortune Society that is putting in the new supporting housing on the same west 97th street block as the murder 2 months ago.
If NYC is overwhelmed and maxed out, the UWS surely is.
Also the Newton Hotel on Broadway between 94th and 95th Street. Every afternoon at 2-3:00 catering trucks unload between 80 to 100 meals. Who owns Riviera catering and what is that costing?
If I were cynical, I would wonder how much city (taxpayer) funding those shelters were receiving per resident, who the landlords were; who the exec directors of the social service ‘non-profits’ were and what their relationship to the landlords was; all the vendors, doctors, therapists, social workers who derive funding from these shelters; and finally, any and all connections (direct, family, extended family, business associates, political donors, and other cronies) to the politicians approving these placements. And revenue streams.
This situation cries for well-funded investigative reporting, and then perhaps some well-targeted prosecution.
There were about 8 homeless men hanging out at the corner of 87th and Amsterdam yesterday, late afternoon. Based on the street. No place to go. Nothing to do. What do you think it is going to happen ? When this is happening at every other corner or at every five to ten blocks.
Men have been hanging out on the corner of 87th and Amsterdam for the last 50 years.
The situation cries for the federal government to pay for the whole thing. NY pays a large share of that but so do Austin and Houston and Dallas. Let Abbott pay his share and let our future generations benefit because the people who are coming with a desire to be productive will settle here and NYC will be the beneficiary
The City has estimated at least one billion annually to cover costs of shelter and services to ‘asylum” seekers.
Note that per 1980s lawsuits the City is required to provide shelter as long as needed. That could be years.
Q: Why don’t we ever hear anyone calling for a reconsideration of the consent decree or the legislation re the ‘right to shelter’ atrocity from 50 years ago?
A: Becau$e landlord$, politician$, and $ocial $erivce charlatan$ figured out a way to milk taxpayer$ for a billion dollar$ a year.
Am saying this yet again; city had no choice but to settle under Carey v Callahan.
https://www.coalitionforthehomeless.org/uploads/2014/06/CallahanvCareyConsentDecree1981.pdf
NYS constitution mandates state “must provide for the poor”. Over decades since that amendment was passed back in 1930’s courts have twisted it into meaning state must provide for various services; right to shelter is one.
Am suggesting once again: Reconsider and fix what no longer pertains today.
Stop the fraud. Stop the institutionalize grift. Stop pay-to-play payola politicians.
You know who you are. And so do some of us.
I walked along that block in front of the Belnord this afternoon. No one outside. Closer to Amsterdam there was a man with a backpack and some other belongings sitting on one stoop, and across the street were two men hanging out in front of another building. Across Amsterdam in front of another building were four or five older men on the sidewalk in folding chairs.
I’ve lived on the UWS since 1975. I’m used to men hanging out on stoops and in front of doorways. Now after some months of reading the WSR, I admit I am more on my guard.
But I did not see families with children around the Belnord.
When is stoop hanging a bad thing? This is New York, it’s how you stay cool in the summer
Did I say stoop hanging as such is a BAD thing? But after months of reading articles on WSR, I have become more attuned to the danger that some guy hanging out may suddenly attack you.
People hang out on my corners begging for money. Why is it good for them to siphon off other people’s things rather than, by their labor, to create value in exchange for which they are compensated?
Will, I agree that most men hanging out are harmless. But we are seeing that some of them pose threats. So why should the UWS be a place to dump more men who have no jobs, who may be addicted and/or mentally ill? Maybe one of them will suddenly jump you one day.
We need sanity in government.
“Families with children,” Brewer said, practically barking out her words in a phone call with the Rag. She had another meeting to attend. “Mothers and babies… responsible families, let’s put it that way.”
Here’s a neutral question. Is the City separating families?
I envision the classic Simpson’s clip “won’t someone think of the children!?” Which is always shouted by an adult trying to deflect attention and criticism.
I work with our new immigrants and a nicer, more responsible group of people would be hard to find. They will be great neighbors.
Honest question: are they really going to be neighbors? I sincerely doubt they will be able to afford living in such an expensive area without government help. Is that help going to be indefinite? Wouldn’t it be more helpful and logical to house them in areas where they can get jobs and put down roots without having to commute two hours to their job? There is so much more space in other boroughs, like Staten Island for instance, and housing they will be able to afford themselves once employed. I doubt that’s going to happen on the Upper West Side.
We are caught up in our contradictions. In a sense Abbot is right to send part of the problem here to share the burdens. We need to treat these people humanely once we’ve got them, but not at the expense of developing a clear-eyed, realistic immigration policy that is designed in the interest of this country, and not based on the romantic but woefully unrealistic notion that migration to the US can be the solution to the problems of every oppressed, deprived, abused, or impoverished person in the world. What is happening, however, is that the fundamental problem of sheer numbers and quality of immigrants is being ignored and the city and other local governments are being burdened with the costs. It does no good to talk about “hardworking immigrants”, etc.: without proper screening for needed skills and reasonable numbers, admitting all who cross the border only contributes to the rapidly growing serfdom of deliveristas and gig workers, undercutting the compensation that will be offered at the lower end of the job market. I am pessimistic that this will be faced realistically, but it’s a long-term disaster if we don’t
It is not about Abbot at all. It is about Biden and Adams.
“Donna Grace … who said she attends Redeemer Presbyterian church’s community group near one of the emergency shelters…”
I daresay Donna Grace may want to pay slightly closer attention to her church’s inherent message.
I live on W79th and welcome them.
Not really looking to go back to the way West 79 street was during the pandemic
As for me, I am proud to welcome these unfortunates to the UWS.
Unfortunate? They get free everything. No one asked me if I want to support these people. You sound like someone from Charles Dickens
LOL!
Wasn’t Scrooge someone Fromm Charles Dickens?
Here, here.
I find the NIMBY-ism of my fellow UWS neighbors to be abhorrent. These are migrant refugees, many are families—we’re not talking about violent criminals! I say give them work permits and temporary housing — help them get on their feet and live the American Dream.
This Donna Grace (whoever she is) quote absolutely makes my blood boil: “It’s going to be the beginning of a gradual decline of our beautiful, historic, desirable neighborhood.” WHAT IS SHE EVEN TALKING ABOUT? How does inviting migrants to temporarily live here decline our neighborhood?? I think this is a dog whistle for “I don’t want black or brown people here.” Racist and just plain wrong, imo.
These people are in the country ILLEGALLY. They are not refugees fleeing persecution. They are economic migrants.
Yes, we can have some sympathy for people trying to improve their lot in life but there are hundreds of millions – if not billions- of people around the world who are poor and would love to live in the US. Are we supposed to let them all in?
We already have tens of millions of American citizens living in poverty. Shouldn’t they be our priority to care for?
Even for the sake of argument let’s assume these “migrant refugees” are all hard working and law abiding it is still a huge taxpayer burden to feed them and house them and provide medical and educational services.
So before you start attacking everyone else as being “racist and just plain wrong” you should look at both sides.
Instead of being turned back at boarder or admitted to US soil but detained Biden is simply allowing them to enter and move onto various areas of country. They are then supposed to report to an immigration office and begin formal asylum process.
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/biden-admin-pauses-asylum-processing-migrants-border/story?id=98543305
NYC ICE offices are fully booked with appointments for asylum claims until *2032*.
https://nypost.com/2023/03/13/nyc-ice-office-fully-booked-for-migrant-appointments-through-late-2032/
Those initial appointments are to begin formal asylum process. It can take five, ten or more years before a decision is made granting or denying an asylum claim. If denied persons can appeal which adds another five, ten or more years until that process plays out.
Long story short these “migrants” aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. They have effectively immigrated to United States.
Thank you! I’m a proud NIMBY so I take it as a compliment. I do, in fact, live in a gated community: I pay UWS rent. If you cannot afford UWS rent, the gate is up for you. It could be that simple
Yup. And “desirable” is a dog whistle for property values. Life unfolds between a clenched fist and an open hand.
how about New Yorkers first who are homeless?
Misdirection. Many WSR commenters don’t want them here either.
Completely agree.
Have you seen, on the nightly news, video of people who have crossed the border, illegally, getting off buses here in Manhattan? Three quarters are young men, sometimes more, and maybe ¼ if that, are women with, at the most, three of four children, total.
How do we, as NYC taxpayers, paying some of the highest taxes in the US, get to see exactly how many healthy, single, young men who are not working are actually living at our expense? And if they are working, how many are paying something, ANYTHING, to cover even a portion of the cost of their new homes, food and clothing?
They can’t work legally without proper authorization. If we could get them them work permits your concerns would be addressed.
I find the YIMBY-ist attitudes of my fellow UWS neighbors to be abhorrent and naive.
These are unskilled migrant refugees, who will be struggling to find low-paying jobs, and will be vulnerable to exploitation by unconscionable resturant owners and construction contractors.
All so UWSers can have cheap fast food delivery, or save a bit on construction costs.
They may or may not be violent criminals, but when a man gets desperate enough and hungry enough, a lot of things can happen.
I say help them get back home, and avoid being The Help for some cosseted liberal UWSer’s version of the American Dream.
Actually it wasn’t me who brought up the fact that most are working, it was Gale Brewer in the article:
“Most of them are working, even though I know they’re not supposed to be, they’re working.”
If this is true, why not pay a little back?
They need to be able to actually prove their right to asylum and right now court hearings are years away given the volume. Makes no sense to add more folks to NYC when their status won’t get resolved for years.
And what needs to change is keeping able people from working while their cases linger.
Again, we have 9 million job openings in this country.
The libs of the UWS get what they deserve, this is what they want. Let’s see in a few months how this unfolds. As if life in NY was not dystopia enough.
When the initial wave of donations were brought in, the majority of the people I met were very young husbands and wives, and they all had children. Just because you haven’t seen them doesn’t mean they’re not here. Correct me if I’m wrong, but aren’t there over 5000 immigrant children in public schools right now? They didn’t get off the buses by themselves. 🙁
I’m an immigrant. I went through the legal process. I pay a fortune in taxes and other costs which constantly increase to live on the UWS. I was here through the pandemic. My family and I did not feel safe walking around. Ok just one occasion, not giving a man on the street money had him saying he’d get a gun and blow my brains out. There’s help and then there is unsafe conditions. What about my family’s life? What about the rest of Manhattan and Brooklyn and the rest of the city or even the state? The UWS is crumbling and Ms Brewer certainly is not taking her responsibilities to the community any more properly than she did during the pandemic.
Jack,
Thank you for sharing your high value for work and upward mobility for your family. Good for you!
My problem? They are DUMPING drug addicts with NO vetting to West83rd St.
Two different populations with very different needs. Drug addicts need an array of psychosocial and medical services before they can contribute to the community.
The UWS is fortunate to have you and your family who value safety, hard work and education. Drug addicts are simply looking for three hots and a cot and their next fix!
You are right! We are ALL…. unsafe.
Take care.
There’s a big green statue in the harbor. Sounds like a few people need to go read the inscription.
A 19th century poem has nothing to do with 21st century immigration policy. Unless you’re seriously suggesting that billions of immigrants are free to come here and live off our taxes.
I would love to move back to the. Upper West Side where I grew up but can’t afford it how do you think I feel when all these people are living there for free ? Not working .
I am much more willing to have migrant shelters than homeless shelters. Though many of those in homeless shelters are down on their luck and trying to bounce back, a very large percentage has serious issues that can’t be solved by warehousing them and not providing them with adequate services. I think the vast majority of migrants came to America for a better life and are ready to work.
That being said, I don’t know why either group is being crammed into one of the most densely populated, expensive parts of America. There are many other places that are much cheaper and are in desperate need of workers. Anyone who disagrees cares more about their need to help people than doing what is actually best for them.
“…..Anyone who disagrees cares more about their need to help people than doing what is actually best for them.”
I am not convinced that many of the loudest voices are actually all that concerned with helping people.
Many of the self-styled ‘homeless activists’ actually make a nice living off of the homeless at taxpayer expense. To them, the homeless are raw materials, an unnatural resource to be exploited. Inventory.
If the ‘homeless’ problem were somehow solved, they’d be out of luck and out of work, desperately in search of their next grift.
The ‘homeless’ are a cash cow for these people, and the taxpayers are the suckers providing the cash.
“…a very large percentage has serious issues that can’t be solved by warehousing them and not providing them with adequate services.”
Not quite. In most cases, “adequate services” ARE offered or available. But you cannot FORCE someone to make use of them.
Its supposed to be free transitional housing. The services are supposed to help them transition to something more sustainable. So if the recipient refuses to accept the service then why is the free housing and food unlimited? Give the space to someone who is willing to make use of the support. Nothing should be free forever especially in a densely populated expensive neighborhood.
The UWS has more than its share of asylum shelters, homeless shelters, safe houses, way more than any other neighborhood in the city. Start putting people in Brooklyn, Queens , Staten Island where it is much cheaper and more space.
Not quite. Here is where the UWS actually stands with respect to the number of homeless people sheltered in homeless shelters and safe houses in our District (Manhattan 7):
Manhattan 5 (Midtown): 2,525
Manhattan 11 (East Harlem): 2,275
Manhattan 10 (Central Harlem): 1,825
Manhattan 3 (LES/Chinatown): 1,665
Manhattan 4 (Chelsea/Clinton): 1,125
Manhattan 7 (UWS): 1,110
So, of the 12 districts in Manhattan, the UWS ranks 6th in the number of homeless in shelters. And that is JUST Manhattan. There are neighborhoods in other boroughs that have FAR more than the UWS as well.
BTW, the entirety of Staten Island (3 districts) houses less than 200 people IN TOTAL on the entire island. I don’t hear anyone complaining about THAT!
And this is wrong because it does NOT COUNT all the “Supportive Housing” beds which are just shelters with another name. Count all those and then you’ll have the real number on the UWS.
And it’s fine if you want to leave out the senior assisted living supportive housing as we all know that is much less and a whole different category than formerly incarcerated, formerly in a hospital for mental illness and formerly drug addicted. which most of our current “Supportive Housing/Shelters” are. Count all those supportive housings we currently have in addition to the 1,100 incomplete number. That’s what is a real number
The Fortune Society has formerly incarcerated, drug addicted or homeless individuals and they say THEY ARE NOT A SHELTER so they don’t show up in the numbers. Just one example. It’s not NIMBY, it’s we are maxed out in our immediate area.
Based on many reader comments in previous articles in the WSR, it appears that the Upper West Side is getting a disproportionate number of shelters. It is outrageous that the Upper East Side is getting the smallest number and that the City official “doesn’t know.”
The upper west side asked for a disproportionate number of shelters by voting in who they do.
See my comment above (to Will). Your assumption is incorrect. While it is true that the UES has fewer people in shelters than the UWS, the UWS ranks 6th in Manhattan for the number of people in shelters. (And even further down the list when counting all five boroughs.) And if you think the UES is not accepting its share, Staten Island houses less than 200 homeless on the entire island.
Ian
Actually DHS uses Staten Island hotels for homeless families.
And it must be remembered that SI has bad mass transit and is thus very difficult for people needing services
I would hardly call a few folks being quoted in a Post article as “open hostility”
I welcome these newly arrived families with children in my neighborhood. They need a place to land, regroup and plan for their new lives in our country. Let’s all try to put ourselves in their shoes and be supportive if that’s only a smile on the street!
My wife and I just returned from a trip to the south, tracing the civil rights movement. We learned a great deal about hate and man’s inhumanity to man. It distresses me to see some of the same attitudes here on the UWS. For the record I live a half block from the Belnord and walk past it frequently. Things are very peaceful. Let’s help these poor people, not tear them down.
Mike
We have lots of open jobs and I admire people who want to work. We also have lots of people who seem unable to work unless begging is considered work. I applaud those who want to work and feel that they deserve a chance.
What a wonderful addition to our great city! God bless them all! I wish it were 330,00. They will bring culture flavor to our neighborhood. I say, the more shelters the better! They belong right here in Manhattan! Let Queens and Brooklyn have the hipsters. We will take (and happily support) our new Americans!
The ladies comments remind me that when I provided care to persons with HIV-AIDS especially homeless my family were adamant in that someone else provide care, love and service to that population not me.
Brewer has no clue who these people are or where they come from.
Why our City has not considered the little towns in NYState north and west that are
devoid of population and much room available?
Poor planning snd ignorance of course
Putting sick people in an upscale neighborhood near schools has to be the height of stupidity
Why would they not want to be in the heart of it all, right here in NYC? What would a small town upstate have to offer them? I say keep them right here so we can help them assimilate and support them with our $$$. An upstate community would not have the means to do so.
Sarah, it’s far more expensive to help these people in NYC. That is the sole reason. Given the sheer numbers of migrants, if we want to maximize the number we can help, we need to reduce costs.
Won’t somebody please think of the upscale neighborhood?
Someone needs to run against Brewer. She’s a lifelong bureaucrat with a chip on her shoulder – a mini-ruler, the opposite of a public servant.She must be finally dislodged from her self-serving perch.
Can we pay taxes according to how we voted or what policies we voted for/ against? Time to make people responsible for their own actions. The illegal migrants suffer no consequences of breaking the law and we have many nice and kind people who are willing to pay for them, let them pay. I want no part of it. I want my money to help residents who are legally here or simply elderly who cannot afford for example implants, dentures, glasses, etc. We can’t even help our own, why and how are we helping others? We can’t so we sink together.
I agree, and I’m glad you’re speaking up. In my case, I am tired of the elderly receiving monthly checks and free or reduced price healthcare on my dime. I’d keep my full salary now rather than having it taxed away to provide massive senior citizen subsidies that will almost certainly be slashed or eliminated by the time I am old enough to qualify.
You’ll feel differently when you can’t afford physical therapy, cataract surgery, dental care, and hearing aids…the list goes on. You can’t honestly believe that ‘reduced price’ healthcare covers any of this. : (
People have asked (and prayed) that someone will run against Gale Brewer. There is a candidate with date I say, oh my God, she has an R next to her name that stands for REGULAR common sense person if you ask me. She seems to be everything the UWS needs. JUST found out about her and she is running against Gale Brewer. Thank God. She is an accomplished musician or singer, from a first generation Italian family in the Bronx, a single mother and wants to make the UWS safe.
Her name is Diane di Stasio. I am a liberal democrat and if she is moderate and for public safety of our neighborhood she has my vote and I’ll do everything I can to help her win.
If she is a Republican, why should I think that she won’t support taking away rights like abortion, same sex marriage, and everything else down the line? Why is she not going to push for a proliferation of guns? For gutting regulations that seek to protect consumers and the environment? We need a LOT more info about this candidate.
I was born and raised on the Upper West Side and have lived here most of my life. I’ve seen our neighborhood go through many changes over 60 years. In my opinion, what would spoil this neighborhood would be having it overrun with people who are lacking in compassion. People in all neighborhoods should be willing to help those who are working towards a better life.
Laura, I upvoted you, although I have only lived on the UWS for 50 years, lol. Started out in Sheepshead Bay. Anyway, just now my MTA app said that the 2 trains are delayed because someone was struck by a train at Cortlandt St and an unauthorized person was on the tracks at Hoyt Street.
I don’t know about either individual, but I’m guessing they were either homeless or young miscreants (graffiti or whatever).
It might be just an effect of electronic media, but it seems as though all over, there is lawlessness, all the way from someone on the subway tracks to murderers on the streets. I am not going to become a Republican, but I am very much less enamored of “keep them out of Rikers” policies than I was two years ago. We need to reclaim our streets and public transport. People in all neighborhoods should unite for public safety.
[I’m not disagreeing with you! I am posting an association of ideas.]
I don’t know for sure if this has not been done. If not, how is it possible that the city of NY has not yet sued Governor Abbott and the state of TX for the full cost of taking care of the people he bussed to NYC?
Don, there is no federal law saying a state must take care of illegal immigrants. Gov. Abbott was within his rights to bus these illegal immigrants to NYC, which proclaims we don’t care if people enter our country illegally or not – we are a Sanctuary City.
https://www.city-journal.org/article/the-unending-battle-for-the-upper-west-side?wallit_nosession=1
See link for for exact same discussion in the 1990’s: ‘Jeffrey Goldberg documented the situation in “The Decline and Fall of the Upper West Side: How the Poverty Industry Is Ripping Apart a Great New York Neighborhood,” a groundbreaking article for New York in 1994. “Small business is no longer the dominant industry of the Upper West Side. Homelessness is,” he wrote, …. Even as the city was going broke, the “explosive growth of the social service sector” meant that the neighborhood had 80 city, state, and private social-services facilities, with five new ones opening each year. Not only did the influx of undesirable new residents drive rent-paying tenants out of their apartments; the worst-off of those tenants were forced into the streets and thus into the hands of the homelessness industry, which housed them at four times the cost.” ‘
Brewer for 3+ decades has been a major player supporting and in kind being supported by the nonprofit poverty industry.
Mothers were front & center (not NIMBY’S) reclaiming this UWS from the cesspool it became. they are at the forefront again along with many woman and families, as they continue to be vigilant for a neighborhood we can all live in without fear and crime that not only punches you quite literally in the face (see most recently Maria Danzanillo) or forces you to shop behind plastic walls at the few stores that remain because successful retailers (Marshalls store at 78th was one of their most trafficked in the country) have left in droves due to untenable losses from shoplifting which makes the stores unpleasant to shop or work in.
Those who do not learn, are willfully ignorant or worse, deny the history of what has happened on the UWS doom us all to repeat lessons that affect every UWSIDER. My fear is that this train has left the station as so many have pointed out. Between the costs that the taxpayer cannot bare for an infinite time period, the loss of significant tax base and the determination to deteriorate the livable neighborhoods of our city – those who are paid to spill the kool-aid here will be laughing all the way to the bank with un vetted unaccountable city contracts that grow exponentially via city council member discretionary funds.
So you have a prediction of doom from 1994 and it didn’t happen.
And a prediction of doom from 2012 and it didn’t happen.
(and, by the way, the data and history contained in that prediction was absurd nonsense)
The buildings being used on the UWS for shelter/supportive housing have historically been marginal housing and hotels at best. Most, back in the SRO flophouse days, were housing worse populations than now. A good example is 235 W 107, one of two adjoining flophouses in the 60s and 70s when my dad had the store at that corner.
And yet, over the 50 years since the UWS hit bottom, thousands of units of housing have been built here, and continue to be built. And very little of it is “affordable.”
Guess what? Notwithstanding that the old flophouses aren’t being converted to private sector market housing, and notwithstanding that they continue to be purposed for shelter?
We continue to see construction and gut renovation here, inclusive of luxury condos directly across the street from NYCHA projects. And guess what else? We will continue to see it.
Many of us can see a pattern here, and that pattern is that the predictions of doom are nonsense.
You want more of THIS?
https://www.westsiderag.com/2022/09/20/suspect-arrested-for-tourist-shooting-it-was-over-a-dollar