Say NO to Bedford Intake Center - YES to Homeless Services

Although originally framed as a Crown Heights issue, the proposal to turn the Bedford-Atlantic armory into an intake center for the entire population of homeless men across the five boroughs is just as much an issue for the residents and business owners of Bedford-Stuyvesant. I live in Crown Heights and work with a Bed-Stuy non-profit, so I care about both communities.

The Bedford-Atlantic armory, located on Bedford Avenue at Atlantic, lies on the Bed-Stuy/Crown Heights border. The closest subway stops are the A and C trains at Franklin and Nostrand in Bed-Stuy. This means that Bed-Stuy - which already has TWICE the number social service beds as other Brooklyn neighborhoods (CH has 5 times) - will be the destination for the city's entire male homeless population as they travel to and from the center. Unfortunately, the armory is - according to many accounts, including from men living in the shelter - a very poorly run facility.

Particularly in light of the newly inaugurated Fulton-Nostrand BID, which is meant to revitalize the same commercial corridors that the men would be roaming, relocating the intake center from its current location in Manhattan to our Central Brooklyn neighborhoods is bad business!

There is a Community Board 8 - Housing Committee meeting tomorrow, June 4th. You can read more about this on www.revitalizecrownheights.org. In the meantime, I'd encourage the residents and business owners of the Stuy to get involved. Reach out to CB3 and your local politicians.

Below is a summary of the issues surrounding this intake center, as provided by CHRM [slightly re-worded]:

The Bloomberg Administration doesn’t care about keeping its promises to New Yorkers:

• Promise made: New York City will provide adequate and accessible services to all needy homeless New Yorkers.
  
  Promise broken: The Bloomberg administration now plans to close it’s only intake center in Manhattan, and require homeless men seeking shelter to travel long distances to an inadequate facility on the Bed-Stuy/Crown Heights border.
  
  Promise made: No New York neighborhood will be required to absorb more than its fair share of City social services facilities.
  
  Promise broken: The Bloomberg administration now plans to locate its major homeless male intake center in North Crown Heights – a neighborhood that is already the borough leader in social service beds.
  
  Promise made: To ease the burden of the new intake center, the City will close the Peter Young Shelter across the street.
  
  Promise broken: The Bloomberg Administration is now seeking to reopen Peter Young and expand the facility to over 150 beds.
  
  Promise made: The City will commit $7 million to building a track and field in the Armory for the Central Brooklyn community.
  
  Promise broken: The Bloomberg Administration has cancelled the track and field – apparently only Manhattan and Park Slope deserve these facilities.