The tale of three shelters is playing out in southern Queens.
After more than two months of weekend protests, the Administration for Children’s Service jettison edits plans for a shelter for delinquents in Queens Village, but the city agency is moving ahead with its blueprint for a similar facility in South Ozone Park.
And in Hollis the community has organized protests amid fears that a private developer may be poised to convert six abandoned buildings into a large family homeless shelter.
At the heart of the resistance to the three facilities is the belief that southern Queens is already saturated with shelters.
Of the 22 shelters DHS operates in Queens, 10 are in District 12, which covers the Hollis neighborhood where the six buildings that belonged to notorious real estate owner Rita Starks have been refurbished.
ACS abandoned its initiative to put a group home for juvenile offenders in the former Merrick Academy building at 207th Street and Jamaica Avenue after facing fierce resistance from the community, activists and elected officials.
The proposed group home is part of a state program called Close to Home, which places non-violent juveniles in residential facilities after they have been released from the state correction system as they prepare to re-enter society.
Close to Home also is the operator of the South Ozone Park home, which city Comptroller Scott Stringer approved last week despite launching an investigation into ACS’s procurement practices with the service provider.
The Queens Village protests were led by City Council candidate Bob Friedrich, amid strong support from Democratic rival Ali Najmi, who was poised to file a lawsuit against ACS to stop the project. Both men are running for the Council seat vacated by Mark Weprin.
State Sen. Leroy Comrie joined the fray, using the power of his office to pressure ACS to back off.
Residents in South Ozone Park still are hoping for a last-minute reprieve from ACS. And Comrie, who offered his help in that skirmish, pointed out the facility is in ta residential neighborhood.
Councilman Ruben Wills lost that fight in the first round, but should enlist the help of other elected officials in the area to make a stronger case.
Comrie, who has been an effective force in the shelter wars, is working with Councilman I. Daneek Miller to head off a homeless facility on Hollis Avenue.
These officials and office seekers have listened to the people—this is what government should be about.
