For more than 40 years, North Brooklyn residents and community leaders have advocated for the mixed-use redevelopment Kingsland Commons. Despite this long-standing effort, concerns remain about the city’s commitment to the project. 

In January 2023, a new announcement renewed hopes among the project’s advocates that it was finally moving forward with groundbreaking for the Barbara Kleiman Men’s Shelter in East Williamsburg. Now, more than three years later, supporters are still waiting to see Kingsland Commons move beyond that initial phase and become the project that was promised.

Kingsland Commons, the redevelopment of the former Greenpoint Hospital campus, is proposed as a mixed-use project with 500 units of affordable housing for seniors and families, a senior center, a health center and a cafe. The 200-bed Kleiman Shelter was planned as the first phase.

Following an emergency order to close the 30th Street Shelter, New York City recently relocated residents to a temporary shelter site on the Greenpoint Hospital campus, a move that community members say goes against the city’s promise to construct the affordable housing once a permanent shelter was built.

At a meeting on May 12, Brooklyn Community Board 1 members agreed to send a letter requesting Mayor Zohran Mamdani to invite the community to hear a comprehensive plan for the shelter (19 Debevoise Ave.). 

The coalition led by local organizations including St. Nicks Alliance, North Brooklyn Federal Credit Union, Cooper Park Houses Residents, among others is also calling on the Department of Homeless Services (DHS) and the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) to appear before Community Board 1’s Public Safety and Human Services Committee (PS&HS) to answer neighbors’ questions.

Among the board’s demands are a firm date for vacating the temporary shelter and returning the building to its originally intended purpose as senior housing, as well as a timeline for the senior housing conversion and the restoration of the Debevoise facility.

The board is also seeking details on how the city plans to fulfill its commitment to cap the shelter at 200 beds, clarification on what “temporary” shelter use means and how long it is expected to last, and a plan to address the shelter’s impact on the surrounding community.

Board members cited concerns raised by residents of Jennings Hall (260 Powers St.), a senior housing complex located three blocks away. They said residents had reported several incidents over the past year in which unhoused men entered the building’s lobby and caused disturbances.

In late May, coalition members rallied outside the shelter to demand progress on the Kingsland Commons development. Among them was Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, who emphasized that the gathering was not an anti-homeless rally. He noted that Community Board 1 had consistently supported the approval of homeless shelters in the district.

“Many of these units you are seeing here are for people that are homeless to find permanent housing,” Reynoso said. “We support that. So let us finish the supportive housing that will let us move families into permanent space instead of continuing to have them move around and not be able to find a home. We want to provide homes to the homeless, and that’s why we’re here today.” 

Greenpointers reached out to Community Board 1 for updates on this issue but did not immediately receive a response. We will update this article if we receive one.