Preliminary Hearing Scheduled on Proposed Carroll Gardens Homeless Shelter

It seems the residents of Carroll Gardens concerned with the prospect of homeless shelter entering the neighborhood will have a chance to make their case in a court of law. 

A hearing on the Coalition for Carroll Garden’s application for a preliminary injunction was scheduled by the New York Supreme Court for Dec. 7.

In the mean time, the Court ordered that the City cannot use the building "in violation of applicable laws and requirements." 

The proposal submitted by Housing Solutions/Aguila Inc. to the Department of Homeles Services to open a shelter that would house 170 men in what was originally built as a 10-unit apartment building was met with considerable resistance by Carroll Gardens residents. 

West 4 St. resident Yigal Rechtman opposed the idea of a shelter in the neighborhood from the start. "...[T]he solution for homelessness is not to warehouse people—17 men to a bathroom in ten crowded apartments," he said.

"It would have been inhumane and desperate for those men, and a real social and economic burden on the community," he continued, adding that he's looking forward to an examination of suitability for residential use of the building.

"When the building is deemed suitable for residents, it is my hope that affordable-rent units converted for use of families would be found," Rechtman said. "These families could be integrated to the local economy and become part of the solution to homelessness."