Residents Slam Plan For New Elmhurst Shelter
Hundreds turned out for a rally Tuesday night, June 17, outside the former Pan American Hotel in Elmhurst to rail against a plan to convert the lodge into a homeless shelter housing more than 200 families.
The rally, held outside the Queens Boulevard premises, drew a large crowd comprised mainly of members of the Malaysian Association of America and the Communities of Maspeth and Elmhurst Together (COMET) civic association. The crowd was so large that it blocked off traffic on the boulevard’s eastbound service road.
Many participants gathered at the protest voiced their outrage by holding signs declaring, “Enough is enough!”
City Council Member Daniel Dromm spoke to the crowd and asked the protesters to be respectful of the 41 families already residing in the hotel. He was frustrated by Department of Homeless Services (DHS) not informing his office until 4:45 p.m. on June 6 they would begin moving formerly homeless families into the Pan American. Dromm was assured the hotel was not being considered as an option.
“We were told this hotel was not being considered,” he said. “So we feel we were lied to. It’s too much for our community to absorb.”
Dromm also addressed several issues that will affect the Elmhurst community. He is concerned about the impact on overcrowded local schools and hospitals.
“Here they have already moved in 41 families as of last night,” Dromm said. We don’t want this kind of negative impact on our community. We will continue to fight.”
COMET President Rosemarie Daraio also spoke at the rally.
“If we don’t step up to the plate and voice our concerns, we will be a part of the problem,” she said.
She also stated the community is already overburdened, with the Metro Motel, also on Queens Boulevard already used to house homeless.
“To my knowledge, there are no plans to put any other homeless shelters in this community,” Dromm said. “But we were already lied to, so that is very concerning.”
“Our federal and state taxes are paying for this debacle,” Daraio said.
“The city’s decision to warehouse the homeless not only affects their quality of life, but also the community’s quality of life by overburdening their already stressed services such as schools and hospitals,” she added.
The Times Newsweekly received documents last Thursday, June 12, describing the proposal to house up to 216 homeless families at the former lodge located at 79-00 Queens Blvd.
Samaritan Village, the nonprofit organization seeking to create a transitional housing shelter at a former factory in Glendale, also submitted the proposal for the Pan American Hotel.
“DHS has reviewed Samaritan Village’s proposal for this site and they have been approved to operate transitional housing and provide an array of social and re-housing services to homeless families as they move to permanency,” DHS Assistant Commissioner Lisa Black wrote to Christian Cassagnol, Community Board 4 district manager, on June 6. The latter was dated on the same day that the DHS began housing families at Pan Am.
Black wrote that DHS would begin housing families at the former hotel immediately.
The development came as a surprise to many following the Glendale homeless shelter debate, as Black stated during aMay 22 hearing in Middle Village that the DHS had no interest in using the PanAmerican Hotel.
Samaritan Village’s Tino Hernandez explained the plan further to Cassagnol and Board 4 Chairperson Louis Walker in a separate June 6 letter. The nonprofit will lease the buildings owned by 79- 00 Development LLC “and will be responsible for all program services,” from case management to housing and employment counseling.”
Round-the-clock security would be provided at the former Pan Am, Hernandez explained, adding that families would be subject to “facility rules and regulations” including access control, visitation and curfew policies “that will be strictly enforced.”
Hernandez requested a meeting with Cassagnol and Walker “within the next 30 days to discuss our program and its relationship to the community,” noting that “in all of our program operations, our goal is to be a good neighbor and to be responsive to the needs of the community.”
