Just a few days after the new year starts, a state judge will hear the first legal motion aimed at stopping a proposed homeless shelter at a long-defunct Glendale factory.
During a press conference Wednesday morning, Nov. 19, outside the factory at 78-16 Cooper Ave., representatives of the Glendale Middle Village Coalition officially announced the filing of an Article 78 resolution calling on the Department of Homeless Services (DHS) to conduct a full environmental study of the location, which many suspect is contaminated.
Reportedly, the resolution will be heard during a State Supreme Court legal proceeding in Manhattan scheduled to take place on Jan. 9, 2015. The coalition is presently awaiting a formal legal response from the DHS.
As previously reported in the Times Newsweekly, the DHS and the nonprofit Samaritan Village plan to develop a shelter for up to 125 homeless families with children at the location. The Glendale Middle Village Coalition-an alliance of local civic and business groups-was formed to launch and fund legal challenges to the proposal, citing potential negative impacts on the community.
In July, the DHS released an environmental impact statement conducted by an independent firm it retained that indicated the shelter site was safe for development. The statement is required under the state Environmental Quality Review Act.
The coalition, however, contends the analysis was not thorough and filled with “numerous factual inaccuracies.”
The Article 78 petition seeks not only to invalidate the environmental impact statement, but also compel the DHS to conduct a full draft environmental impact study-a process that could take several years and millions of dollars to complete.
However, it was noted that a ruling in the Article 78 lawsuit in the coalition’s favor would not prevent a shelter from being constructed. Instead, it will force a more extensive review of the location, as well as the project’s possible impact on the community at large.
“Before our government can decide to move on something that is discretionary like building a homeless shelter, they’re supposed to an environmental review,” attorney Christopher Murray of the firm Ruskin Moscou Faltischek, who represents the coalition. “By doing it the way they did, they’re cutting the community out of the process. That’s the most egregious aspect of it.”
Murray alleged that the city’s failure to conduct a larger, extensive evaluation is “a violation of New York State law, which requires them to take a hard look and do a full Environmental Impact Statement, as well as to have public input at public hearings.”
Robert Holden, Juniper Park Civic Assocaition president and founding member of the coalition, alleged that the city is basically “rubber-stamping” the project, as well as a third-party “negative declaration” report deeming the project and its location as suitable.
“We’re asking for a complete study on the impact of the neighborhood,” he stated. “That’s all we’re asking for with this action.”
Coalition member Kathy Masi, who is president of the Glendale Civic Association, added in a statement that local residents opposed to the proposed shelter “just want the city to follow the law and properly analyze whether the project should be located at this location.”
Middle Village Chamber of Commerce President Sal Crifasi, also a coalition member, stated that the organization “is continuing its ongoing efforts to inform and educate the community about this project, and to also make sure that our elected officials understand the deep concern that we have.”
