From New York Daily News:
More than a dozen residents rallied Sunday against the de Blasio administration’s plan to convert the former Park Savoy Hotel in Midtown Manhattan into a men’s homeless shelter.
The proposed site is a block away from Central Park and is filled with hotels catering to tourists, community activists point out. The shelter would also be around the block from One57, one of the city’s most posh condo towers.
“Under a reasonable administration, you would never cite a homeless shelter on a block with this population,” said Suzanne Silverstein, president of the West 58th St. Coalition. “There are seven major hotels within a block and a half of this location.”
The city’s Department of Homeless Services has defended the $60 million plan, pointing out that every neighborhood must carry it share of the burden.
But Robert Mascali, a former deputy commissioner of homeless service, contends the location makes no sense. “It’s a logistical nightmare for them to put it here,” he said.
He cited the 674 arrests made inside city homeless shelters over the first three months in 2018, according to statistics released by the NYPD Friday.
“It’s an astronomical number in just three months,” he said. “For many years it’s been known that the adult male shelters have been very violent and they are one of the (main) reasons why people stay in the street and in the subways.”
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