Letter Campaign: Proposed Homeless Shelter

I am writing to express my opposition to a proposal to site a 200-bed assessment center at 400 McGuinness Boulevard in the Greenpoint neighborhood of Brooklyn. As a Greenpoint resident I urge you to reconsider this project.

The proposed assessment center will not alleviate the homelessness problem that our neighborhood already faces. Greenpoint’s significant homeless population is primarily made up of Polish-speaking, chronic public inebriates. Many of these men have deep roots in our community, and I believe it is important to have a shelter to accommodate them and allow them to begin recovery.

In the recent winter weeks, many of these men have bee seen sleeping in the Greenpoint parks, on the waterfront street-ends, and under the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. Without adequate shelter, these men are in grave danger this winter. In fact, one homeless man died while sleeping in McCarren Park on December 9, 2010, when the low overnight temperature was 23o F. Instead of dealing with our neighborhoods’ homelessness issues, the assessment center would add to our problem by introducing 200 more homeless men to the area.

Furthermore, the site itself is isolated from active street life and public transportation. The proposed assessment center is located at the foot of the Pulaski Bridge, on one of Brooklyn’s most dangerous thoroughfares. The nearest subway station is eight blocks away.

Greenpoint already bears more than its fair share of city services. Our neighborhood is home to the City’s largest sewage treatment facility, a number of waste transfer stations, a federal Superfund site, and dozens of other environmental concerns. This center would be one more area in which Greenpoint was asked to shoulder a disproportionate amount of city services.

I urge you to help the men in our neighborhood instead of adding to our community’s homelessness problem. I strongly believe that a 200-bed assessment enter is the wrong facility for Greenpoint.

Sincerely,

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