Overview
- A Manhattan Supreme Court judge dismissed East Village residents’ lawsuit on June 10 and lifted a restraining order that had paused the city’s plan to move the men’s intake center from Bellevue to 8 East Third Street.
- Mayor Zohran Mamdani ordered Bellevue closed earlier this year because the 1931 facility had deteriorated, and city officials already relocated hundreds of men from the Midtown site to other shelters.
- The Midtown intake serves about 80 men a day and the East Third Street building, which once housed intake operations decades ago, is under renovation to meet ADA accessibility standards.
- Residents and the group VOICE argued the move was rushed and should have triggered public land-use review, but Justice Sabrina Kraus found the city provided a rational basis and did not act arbitrarily; plaintiffs are considering an appeal.
- The ruling ends the immediate legal barrier but leaves operational questions: the city has not announced a firm opening date for intake at East Third Street and neighbors and service providers will watch for a new timeline and any appellate filings.