Western Queens community board says DHS failing shelter residents and neighbors
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The Borden Avenue Veterans Shelter in Blissville is one of several shelters members of Queens Community Board 2 say the Department of Homeless Services has failed to properly monitor. Photo via Google Maps
By Jacob Kaye
A community board in Western Queens is calling on the city to live up to its promise to its residents, both housed and unhoused, to provide safe and consistent shelter to all in the district.
In a letter to a number of elected officials in Queens and throughout the city, members of Queens Community Board 2 accused the Department of Homeless Services of failing to deliver on a number of promises made to board members in 2018, when the city agency first proposed bringing three shelters to Blissville.
“The New York City Administration, Department of Homeless Services and the Provider have failed to live up to these promises inclusive of commitments to invest in the community of Blissville for infrastructure improvements, greenspace, parks and playgrounds,” the letter reads.
It’s a rare stance taken by a New York City community board, which often stands opposed to the creation of shelters within their borders.
But members of the board say they’ve seen the state of the shelters, and the shelter providers’ interaction with the board and community slowly decline over the past several years.
“Over the years and especially the last year, we’ve seen a steady decline in the care of our sheltered population,” said Thomas Mituzas, the co-chair of the Queens Community Board 2 Homeless Shelter Taskforce, at a recent meeting. “They deserve safety.”
The community board’s complaints center around three shelters – the North Star Shelter, Home Suites Shelter and City View Shelter, all located in Blissville, a small hamlet in the southwestern portion of Long Island City. The community board, which covers Sunnyside, Woodside and Long Island City, also houses the Borden Avenue Veterans Shelter.
When DHS first approached the board about bringing the shelters to the neighborhood, board members say they were promised a commitment from the city to bring more park space to the neighborhood, build up its infrastructure and make the shelters state-of-the-art facilities.
“None of these promises have ever appeared,” Mituzas said. “My neighbors and I have wrapped our arms around our new neighborhoods – I can’t say the same for the agency that is supposed to care for our homeless, DHS.”
While board members take issue with each shelter listed in the letter, the specific issues vary site to site.
Board members say DHS told members in the fall of 2021 that the City View Shelter, a temporary shelter operating outside of a hotel, was no longer in use. Because it was temporary, the shelter provider told members that there was no requirement to meet with the board, the letter claims.
Despite being told the site was no longer being used, in March 2022, an alleged arsonist started a fire in the facility, injuring eight people, all of whom were DHS clients.
A DHS spokesperson declined to comment on whether or not the site is still being used as a shelter.
The lack of communication with the board doesn’t stop with City View, Mituzas said. Both the veterans shelter and the North Star Shelter have essentially cut off communication with the Community Advisory Board responsible for overseeing the shelters, the board members allege.
Mituzas says he feels there’s a lack of accountability on behalf of DHS and the providers, who he says have not done enough to stop violence and drug use in the shelters, putting people who stay in the shelter at risk.
“We can not tolerate the disregard for this population, hiding them away in the hamlet of Blissville,” Mituzas said.
A DHS spokesperson declined to comment on the specific allegations made against the agency and providers when contacted by the Eagle.
“As part of our moral and legal obligation to provide shelter to vulnerable New Yorkers, this Administration is committed to ensuring that every community has enough social safety net resources to help their neighbors in need,” the spokesperson said. “As part of this mission, DSS-DHS is focused on providing high-quality services to New Yorkers experiencing homelessness, which is reflected in our unprecedented investments to improve conditions across the shelter system and the significant progress we’ve made phasing out the use of sub-standard, stop-gap measures.”
“To that end, we are committed to phasing out our use of commercial hotels in this community while continuing to ensure that at every DSS-DHS site we are providing the kinds of services and supports our clients need and deserve as they get back on their feet,” they added.
In his executive budget released in February, Mayor Eric Adams proposed cutting DHS’ budget by around $615 million, or a fifth of its current operating budget. Community Board 2 condemned the cuts in its letter.
The board’s letter also comes as Adams has directed the NYPD to conduct regular sweeps of homeless encampments throughout the city, forcing people into a shelter system advocates say isn’t safe.
“Rounding up unhoused who live on the streets is not the answer,” Mituzas said. “We must improve the shelter system so folks do not fear the shelters and will enter them.”
