Thousands flood City Hall steps to oppose proposed Brooklyn homeless shelter

More than 2,000 New Yorkers incensed over the city’s plan to build a homeless shelter in their south-central Brooklyn neighborhood descended on City Hall Thursday to voice their opposition to the proposal.

The residents, many brandishing signs and American flags, expressed fears the planned 32-room shelter — designed to accommodate up to 150 adult men — will become a magnet for drugs, crime and other trouble when it opens later this year.

“They are dangerous and they always walk around and just come into the store and grab things without saying anything, and you don’t know if they have mental problems,” Susan Zhou, 35, a local pharmacy worker told The Post.

“They’ll be walking on the street and hit people. They can hit you for no reason, it’s so dangerous.”

Leading the efforts were Assemblyman William Colton (D-47), and Councilmember Susan Zhuang (D-43), opponents of the plan who organized the rally, which grew so massive it spilled over into City Hall Park.

More than 2,000 residents jammed the steps of City Hall in Manhattan Thursday morning to voice their opposition to a proposed homeless shelter in Gravesend, joined by elected officials. Haley Brown / NY Post

The new shelter being proposed for 2501 86th St. and 25th Avenue in Gravesend would be constructed as a hotel, complete with a community center, and then contracted by the city, Zhuang said.

Zhuang contends that the city jammed the plan through without consulting its neighbors.

“The city wants to put it in our community without talking to us. Without giving us any information. They just want to do whatever they want.” Zhuang said.

A NYC Department of Social Services spokesperson denied Zhuang’s claim in a statement to The Post, saying that they first notified the community in November, 2023.

“As we have always done, we will continue to maintain open lines of communication
with the community and remain committed to ongoing engagement as we work collaboratively to support our neighbors in need,” the statement read in part.

Colton said putting the homeless shelter in the neighborhood would be bad policy.

“I don’t want to hear arguments about how, ‘oh we have to share everything in the city.’ You don’t share evil things. You don’t share bad policies. You change them. You stop them and you change them,” he said.

Colton said the developer of the property, who he identified as Tejpal Sandhu of 86th Street NY LLC, was working with the city strictly to line his pockets with no regard for the community.

“He is simply making money for himself. He has proven again and again that he disrespects the community. He disrespects the Building Department.”

The two lawmakers — joined by throngs of neighbors and demonstrators — previously rallied against the shelter plan in March. A petition against the project has already garnered more than 60,000 signatures.

Zhuang and Colton both called the shelter a “human warehouse” that only serves as a band-aid on the city’s homelessness crisis.

“We need mental healthcare, we don’t need warehousing,” Zhuang said.

Councilmember Bob Holden (D-30), who also opposes the proposal, saw the effects in his district first-hand when the city erected a 200-bed homeless shelter residents didn’t want under former Mayor Bill De Blasio.

Protesters lined the sidewalks as they marched to City Hall, the crowd growing so large it spilled into nearby City Hall Park. Haley Brown / NY Post

“It’s a one-building crime wave,” Holden said of the shelter at 78-16 Cooper Ave. in Queens.

Residents at the rally told The Post they, worried the shelter would negatively impact the neighborhood while failing to address the needs of the homeless population.

“It’s a thriving community,” said Vinny Laporta, an Italian American who has lived in the community for 65 years.

“We don’t need a homeless shelter, we need more affordable housing. That shelter is in a congested area, four train stops, five bus stops, schools and churches. It would do harm to the homeless and the community,” Laporta said.

“You gotta stay conscious for your city.”

Assemblyman Colton and Councilmember Zhuang said that although there is a stop work order in place on the property, Sandhu has “been caught” attempting to do work on a portion of city-owned sidewalk without the appropriate permits.

These alleged incidents occurred right as Lunar New Year began, and on Saturdays, the Jewish Sabbath, when construction work is generally prohibited. Both times, the officials said, he was thwarted “thanks to the vigilance of the community.”

Sandhu could not be reached for comment by phone or email.