By Mark Hallum
A bill designed to impose greater transparency over the placement of homeless shelters passed the state Senate and will include community leaders and elected officials in the process of deciding if a center is in the best interest of the neighborhood it will affect.
State Sen. Joseph Addabbo (D-Howard Beach) co-sponsored the bill that will counter action on the part of the de Blasio administration, which drew criticism from across the borough last year when information began surfacing about hotels being used as homeless shelters. The Maspeth Holiday Inn Express formed the epicenter of protests in August when the city attempted to convert the building into a shelter. The Juniper Park Civic Association and the Maspeth-Middle Village Task organized demonstrations every weeknight for nearly four months.
Elected officials joined rallies calling for greater community involvement in homeless shelter deployment.
“This proposal will guarantee transparency and a desperately needed public exchange when the city is choosing locations for shelters,” Addabbo said. “Specifically, it requires advance notification to local officials and community boards when hotels and motels are being eyed for use as homeless shelters. In addition, the legislation would expand the review and community input process for permanent shelters housing homeless individuals and families.”
Addabbo was on the front lines of the issue during last year’s elections and called similar criteria, as mentioned in the bill, as part of his re-election promise.
“While I believe placing homeless individuals into hotels is a failing policy implemented by our mayor,” Addabbo said, “his administration should inform the local elected officials, and public, when such action is taken. Good government demands open communication among community members, elected officials, service providers and other stakeholders in the face of difficult challenges, including our efforts to find effective solutions to housing the homeless.
“If we are to provide the best possible housing and assistance for people who are in desperate need of shelter and services, notifying and working cooperatively with local communities is not only key, but absolutely necessary.”
The bill’s top sponsor is state Sen. Jeff Klein (D-Bronx), a leading member of the rogue Independent Democratic Committee, and is co-sponsored by his fellow IDC colleague, state Sen. Tony Avella (D-Bayside), who has been an outspoken voice against the hotel conversions into homeless shelters.
Avella announced he would challenge de Blasio for mayor in December after gauging support from civic organizations in Queens and Brooklyn, which share similar values to those of residents in his home district, stretching from College Point in the west to Douglaston and Little Neck in the east. He made his official announcement at a protest against the city converting hotels into homeless shelters at the Holiday Inn in Maspeth.
Avella has since suspended his campaign, citing funding troubles and the difficultly of deposing an incumbent mayor.
Reach reporter Mark Hallum by e-mail at mhall
