To Shelter or Not to Shelter

Three days before Thanksgiving, Rockaway students will be raising their fists in protest. They are not demanding better schools, climate action or even gun control. In a city where one in ten public school children are homeless, Rockaway students will be fighting to keep a new shelter out of their neighborhood.

But this shelter would not be for children. It is a 120-bed facility for single men—one of the most challenging populations to shelter, but also one of the fastest-growing segments of the city’s homeless population.

Since de Blasio introduced his plan in 2017 to build 90 new homeless shelters across the city, many neighborhoods have been pushing back. In the Rockaways, residents went a few steps further, forming a nonprofit called Rockaway Solutions Not Shelters which aims to challenge not just the proposed shelter but the city’s approach to homelessness overall.

“When I go, I go big,” said Torey Schnupp, the organization’s founder and a stay-at-home mother of two.

In addition to organizing the student rally, the group has held demonstrations, testified at the contract hearing and garnered support from local politicians. They believe the city should be focusing on affordable housing and supportive services rather than more shelters. And they’re not alone—more than a dozen neighborhoods have fought new shelters on similar grounds, and even advocacy groups like Coalition for the Homeless have been critical of the city’s efforts.

But in the cacophony of opposition, it can be hard to sort out NIMBYism from legitimate concerns about the city’s mishandling of the homelessness crisis.

When they first learned about the proposed shelter at 226 Beach 101st St., Rockaway residents voiced the usual concerns about the site’s proximity to schools and taking in men who are likely to have mental health and substance abuse issues.

Many residents feel the Rockaways is treated as a “dumping ground” for high-need populations. Still recovering from Sandy, the community is already home to three shelters (including a commercial hotel), 4,000 units of public housing, numerous adult care facilities and the only F-rated hospital in NYC.

“We are so overwhelmed with people in need,” said Schnupp.

But DHS numbers tell a different story. According to a July report from the Department of Homeless Services, 1,070 homeless individuals hail from the Rockaways (2.4 percent of the citywide population), but the district only shelters 625 individuals, or 1.1 percent.

The numbers suggest that Rockaway could do more to carry its weight in addressing the homeless crisis, but Schnupp disagrees.

“DHS might be the most dishonest organization I have ever heard of,” said Schnupp. “I do not for one second believe the figures DHS puts out.”

But it’s tough to argue with data.

“DHS is tracking the number of families and individuals who, when they come to a shelter intake center, report their last address of record in particular zip codes. That's where the numbers come from,” said Patrick Bonck of Breaking Ground, a homeless and supportive housing advocacy group.

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Much of the community’s distrust in DHS comes from what residents see as wasteful spending by an agency that farms out shelters to private developers and third parties.

The Beach 101 shelter is a joint venture between Liberty One Group (the developer) and Black Vets for Social Justice (the nonprofit charged with managing the shelter). Their $41 million, 4.75-year contract breaks down to about $6,000 per resident each month.

“What are you doing with that?” said Schnupp. “You could get four studio apartments in Rockaway. You could put three people through SUNY.”

And these numbers are not unusual. According to a Coalition for the Homeless report, in FY18 emergency shelters cost the city an average of $47,000 per person.

But Schnupp says it isn’t the amount that bothers her, but how it’s spent. Rather than providing supportive services, she feels people are warehoused on cots, and shelters become a money-making opportunity for groups like Liberty One, who own several similar facilities.

“They’re good at acquiring properties in the proper zoning, and sitting back and collecting humongous government checks, to do the very, very bare minimum,” said Schnupp.

In her view, this is one of the major flaws of how the city addresses homelessness.

“If you take the profiting out of social services, you’re going to have a much better result,” said Schnupp. “When you don’t have everybody taking their cut of the chunk of money, then that focus can be put on the problem itself.”

And Rockaway Solutions argues that the answer is not shelters at all.

“Every shelter is an opportunity to build permanent housing,” said Schnupp.

But the solution is not that simple.

“While more supportive and affordable housing are most definitely needed, it takes time to build permanent housing,” said Bonck. “Meanwhile, some 60,000 people utilize shelters each night, including more than 16,000 single adults, primarily men.”

Liberty One Group, Black Vets for Social Justice and DHS all ignored numerous requests for comment.

What’s often missing from this debate are the voices of people who have experienced homelessness and those who welcome shelters into their neighborhood.

“Some Community Boards have been particularly good at reaching out to and working closely with providers and connecting them with people and neighborhood coalitions who have concerns,” said Bonck.

The Coalition for the Homeless even gives out a Compassionate Communities Award for neighborhoods that are particularly welcoming. This year’s recipient was Manhattan Community Board 4.

Rockaway Solutions may not be a contender for the award, but they are angling for a different victory. If the City Comptroller approves the shelter contract, the group’s next step would be filing a lawsuit against the city, and they’re not stopping there. They have started drafting legislation to take to city and local officials. One obvious target is the state’s Right to Shelter law, but Schnupp is not sure how she feels about it.

“Of course people need shelter, but they need permanent housing, not shelter in the form of a cot in a warehouse. They need housing.”

What Rockaway Solutions and homeless advocacy groups can agree on is that the city’s approach is not working. According to Coalition for the Homeless, the current shelter census trajectory shows an increase in the homeless population of 5,000 individuals by 2022, rather than the 2,500 decrease de Blasio planned.

"We gotta completely change this process,” said Schnupp. “If they keep going the same direction that they’re going, nothing is changing anytime soon.”