Overview
- Local residents and a neighborhood group filed a lawsuit in Manhattan court seeking an emergency order to stop the city from opening a men’s intake hub at 8 E. 3rd St. before the planned May 1 start.
- The suit says the city wrongly invoked an emergency to bypass land-use, environmental, and “fair share” reviews and argues the neighborhood got little notice and few answers about operations.
- A supporting affidavit from former DHS official Robert Mascali warns the site’s new “front door” role would draw more transient crowds and disorder and cites a 1984 move to Bellevue as evidence the East 3rd Street building proved too small.
- City Hall defends the relocation as necessary because conditions at the Bellevue intake shelter have been unsafe for years and says DHS will keep a small presence there for at least a year with transportation to the new sites.
- A local task force launched a petition to rescind the emergency orders, while homeless advocates warn a rapid switch could confuse people seeking shelter and make access harder.