New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is planning to open a homeless shelter in a ritzy section of Manhattan, it was reported on Wednesday.
The mayor’s plan would convert the former Park Savoy Hotel on West 58th Street into a shelter for homeless men.
The existence of the plan was reported by the New York Post.
The proposed homeless shelter, which will provide housing to 150 residents beginning in March, is likely to generate resistance among local residents given that the building is right near one of New York’s most expensive areas.
Neighbors have traditionally opposed having a homeless shelter nearby for fear it would lead to an increase in crime, a decrease in quality of life, and a drop in the values of their homes.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (seen above on Monday during an appearance in Harlem honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr) is planning to open a homeless shelter in a ritzy section of Manhattan, it was reported on Wednesday
‘Are you kidding me?’ a resident of the landmark JW Marriott Essex House hotel and condo building on Park South told the Post.
‘I am in shock. You just shocked the s***t out of me.’
‘How does this happen?’ said Victoria Bader, a dancer living on West 58th Street said. ‘We had no warning.’
‘The city has a homeless epidemic and there seems to be no solution,’ said local resident Patricia Jenkins.
‘I don’t have an answer, but I know I do not want a homeless shelter in my neighborhood,’ she said.
Just feet away from the building stands One57, the so-called ‘Billionaire Building.’
The 75-story building, which sits at 157 West 57th Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenues in Midtown, is home to some of the richest residents of New York.
In January 2015, an unidentified buyer put down $100.5million for the penthouse at One57 – making it the most expensive residential real estate purchase in New York City history, according to the New York Business Journal.
The mayor’s plan would convert the former Park Savoy Hotel on West 58th Street into a shelter for homeless men
Just feet away from the building stands One57, the so-called ‘Billionaire Building.’ The 75-story building, which sits at 157 West 57th Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenues in Midtown, is home to some of the richest residents of New York
A year earlier, the second-most expensive residential real estate deal ever was made – and it, too, was for a 13,554 square-foot duplex in One57.
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.
One57 is one of a number of ‘supertall’ skyscraper residents that together make up a cluster of high-end apartments near the southern end of Central Park known as ‘Billionaires’ Row.’
The new homeless shelter is slated to open just around the corner from the Ritz Carlton, a five-star hotel on Central Park South.
According to TripAdvisor, a room at the Ritz Carlton can range from anywhere between $689 and $1,677 per night.
What to do about New York’s growing homeless population has proved to be one of the most contentious issues in city politics, particularly since de Blasio became mayor in 2014.
His administration wants to open a total of 90 homeless shelters across New York’s five borough within the next five years.
The city’s homeless population has been estimated to number more than 63,000, accordin to amNewYork.
But local residents in some areas have expressed vehement opposition, including in Maspeth, Queens.
Residents there have staged protests and circulated online petitions demanding that the city abandon plans to convert a Holiday Inn hotel into a homeless shelter, according to the Village Voice.
‘I told you well before the elections there would be 90 new shelters, they’ll be in every kind of neighborhood,’ de Blasio told reporters on Tuesday.