By Dustin Brown
Citing the absence of a drop-in center for the homeless in Queens, the Salvation Army has proposed creating a 24-hour facility in Long Island City about three blocks away from the Citibank building.
But the chairman of Community Board 2 said he has reservations about the plan because the facility would sit in the middle of an area slated for redevelopment as part of a new central business district.
Al Peck, social services director for the Salvation Army of Greater New York, told Community Board 2 last Thursday that the organization has submitted a proposal to the city to establish a homeless drop-in center at 10-34 44th Drive.
In a phone interview Monday, Peck said the facility would be similar to one his organization already runs on Bond Street in Brooklyn.
“A lot of homeless people that are being brought there are from Queens, so it seemed appropriate to have one in Queens,” he said.
The facility, which would be open 24 hours a day, would provide a place for homeless people to shower, eat and get some clean clothes, although they would not be allowed to sleep there.
The Salvation Army submitted its proposal to the city Department of Homeless Services, which would contract the program out to the charitable group.
“We don’t have a commitment from the city, but they want to see a good faith effort that you’re letting the community know what’s going on,” Peck said.
Because the proposed site is located in a manufacturing district but the drop-in center is considered a commercial entity, the plan must go through a city review process that begins with a community board hearing.
But Joseph Conley, the chairman of Community Board 2, which covers Long Island City, Sunnyside and Woodside, said the center may not be appropriate for the neighborhood, which was recently rezoned to encourage its development into a business district.
“If everybody is so concerned about Long Island City and the economic viability and trying to attract new businesses here and new residents, how can you open up a 24-hour drop-in center on 44th Drive?” Conley said in a phone interview Monday. “Forty-fourth Drive has been predicted to be one of the main thoroughfares that will go from Jackson Avenue down to the waterfront.”
As it exists today, this stretch of 44th Drive between 11th Street and Vernon Boulevard exemplifies the diversity of an area the city describes as a “mixed use” district, with small homes sitting alongside industrial warehouses and the Citibank office tower rising just three blocks away. The road ends at the East River, offering a clear view of Midtown Manhattan from much of its length.
The Salvation Army already operates a homeless shelter for military veterans on Borden Avenue and has worked closely with the community board to resolve concerns that arose in recent years about how the facility was being operated.
Despite that relationship, Conley said the community board was only informed about the proposed 44th Drive drop-in center late last month by the office of Borough President Helen Marshall, who had recently met with the Salvation Army to discuss the plan.
“We were surprised to hear about it then,” he said. “We had not been contacted before that.”
Peck said the Salvation Army had composed a letter informing Community Board 2 of the proposal which should have gone out a year ago, but it “probably wasn’t sent” due to administrative error.
Peck said the Queens center, like the one in Brooklyn, would send out patrols to clean the streets and remove graffiti as a service to the neighborhood.
“You can go to our Bond Street drop-in center and see that we are an asset to the community rather than a detraction from the community,” Peck said.
Reach reporter Dustin Brown by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 154.
