From Daily Mail:
City has approved a plan to house 140 single men in what was once the low-cost Park Savoy Hotel on West 58th Street
The building is located next door to One57 – a luxury tower where computer billionaire Michael Dell bought a penthouse in 2014 for record-setting price of $100.7million
The Park Savoy Rapid Re-Housing and Employment Center at 158 West 58th Street would be one of 90 shelters set to open in five boroughs over the next five years to deal with homeless problem
City’s homeless population has been estimated to number more than 63,000
Opponents of the Park Savoy project say the homeless men could pose a security risk, despite officials’ assurances that the shelter will have cameras, guards and a curfew for the residents.
Some of New York City’s wealthiest residents residing along Manhattan’s so-called ‘Billionaires Row’ are up in arms about the prospect of living just steps away from a homeless shelter that is now under construction.
The city has approved a controversial plan to house 140 single men in what was once the low-cost Park Savoy Hotel on West 58th Street, a modest building right next door to the back entrance of One57, one of the half-dozen sleek new skyscrapers built along West 57th Street to accommodate the super rich.
Unit owners at One57 include computer billionaire Michael Dell, who set a record for the most expensive home ever sold in New York City when he paid $100.7million for his sprawling six-bedroom, six-bath penthouse in 2014
Some of New York City’s wealthiest residents residing along Manhattan’s so-called ‘Billionaires Row’ are up in arms about the prospect of living just steps away from a homeless shelter that is now under construction.
The city has approved a controversial plan to house 140 single men in what was once the low-cost Park Savoy Hotel on West 58th Street, a modest building right next door to the back entrance of One57, one of the half-dozen sleek new skyscrapers built along West 57th Street to accommodate the super rich.
Unit owners at One57 include computer billionaire Michael Dell, who set a record for the most expensive home ever sold in New York City when he paid $100.7million for his sprawling six-bedroom, six-bath penthouse in 2014.
Billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman led a group of other investors who paid a grand total of $91.5million, according to The New York Times.
The placement of the shelter in such a location is in line with Mayor Bill de Blasio’s campaign platform, who was first elected in 2014, and then re-elected in 2017, on the promise of fighting income inequality and reversing public policies tilted to favor the wealthy.
But the proposed shelter, steps from Central Park, has been met with howls of outrage from some people who live on the surrounding blocks, many of whom are average New Yorkers, including families with small children and seniors living on fixed income.
At a recent meeting about the project, dubbed the Park Savoy Rapid Re-Housing and Employment Center, angry residents, shopkeepers and restaurant owners booed and yelled, ‘Not in this neighborhood!’
‘We’re completely baffled by how this shelter was planned,’ said Suzanne Silverstein, president of the West 58th Street Coalition, which is fighting the hotel-to-shelter conversion.
During a town hall meeting held last month to protest the planned shelter, Silverstein said she is fighting for her children, ages 10 and 12.
Opponents like Silverstein say the homeless men could pose a security risk for both pricey apartment owners and residents of older, rent-controlled buildings on West 58th Street, whose sidewalks are crowded with tourists, baby carriages and dogs.
‘West 58th Street is the billionaires’ backyard, but it’s the front yard of middle-class families with children, and senior citizens,’ said David Achelis, a recording producer who has lived in the neighborhood for 40 of his 67 years.
The project was started ‘extremely secretively’ months ago, lacking work permits or an environmental impact study, Silverstein said.
A stop-work order was issued February 8 by the Department of Buildings after inspectors found ongoing construction in the century-old, nine-story building. The order remains in effect until the building is granted the necessary permits.
‘The city approved this project with no notice for the community to be heard,’ said the coalition’s attorney, Randy Mastro, who served as deputy mayor under Rudolph Giuliani. ‘The city has acted illegally under the city charter, which requires public notice when a contract is being awarded.’
Bloomberg News reported last month that the coalition may pursue legal action under New York State’s Article 78, which allows citizens to appeal an action taken by a government agency.
De Blasio has defended the project, which comes as his administration seeks to build 90 new shelters in all five boroughs over the next five years to accommodate a record number of homeless people, who are currently being housed in hotels and apartments.
‘We said we were going to do it everywhere. We should be doing it in places that are the privileged parts of town as well as every other kind of community,’ he said on The Brian Lehrer Show on WNYC Radio.
Security cameras will be installed, monitored by 24-hour guards, and there will be a 10pm curfew in place for the residents, said Isaac McGinn, spokesman for the city Department of Homeless Services.
Opponents also have raised concerns about the cost, noting the site will be more expensive to operate than others in the outer boroughs.
To run the shelter, the city has a nine-year, $63million proposed contract with the nonprofit Westhab, which is leasing the Manhattan site from the defunct hotel’s owner, New Hampton LLC, for $2.6million a year, to be reimbursed by the city. New Hampton’s managing agent, John Pappas, did not respond to requests for comment, nor did Westhab.
Robin Siskin, a lawyer who lives in a modest apartment across the street from the proposed shelter site, said the homeless men would not be able to afford a neighborhood where a cup of coffee can cost $6.
‘My concern is that the men are being set up to fail, while somebody is lining their pockets with money at the expense of the community,’ she said. ‘This is a moneymaker for an LLC, pure and simple.’
Not everyone in the community opposes the proposed shelter. One vocal supporter is John Sheehan, a neighborhood resident and director of outreach services for the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church.
‘I believe in the right to housing,’ he said. ‘We have an enormous problem in New York City and we need places to house people.’
The city’s homeless population has been estimated to number more than 63,000, according to data from the Coalition for the Homeless.
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