A proposed second 200 bed Single Adult Men's homeless shelter has been proposed for 1682 Stillwell Avenue, on the site of a closed automotive repair shop. This will be the second 200 bed Single Adult Men's Shelter sited for Community Board 11, and would be more than fifty percent of the homeless responsibility the board has. So why the need for more single adult men's homeless shelters?
I was able to ask that very question of Mayor Bill de Blasio last year where as he said that since the beginning of the new 'No Cash Bail Law' there was an increase of Single Adult Males, and Females who can no longer be held because they could not afford bail. There is a formula that the Department of Homeless Services uses to place the homeless, which is not to be more than twenty-five percent of either single adult males or females, with seventy-five percent or more families.
While the Bronx has only eighteen percent of the entire population of the city, the Bronx houses thirty-seven percent of the homeless population. This also was brought up to the mayor by me, and his response was that the city would stop sending homeless people to the Bronx from other boroughs, that is unless it is an emergency situation.
The sites chosen for the two Community Board 11 Single Adult Men's homeless shelters 1682 Stillwell Avenue and the 1400 Blondell Avenue need Environmental Impact Statements done on each site to see what hazardous materials are on or below the sites. The Blondell Avenue site is also a closed auto repair shop, and is next to Royal Flush, a Portable toilet company which cleans out their units on site with unknown chemicals. The Stillwell Avenue site is next to a parking lot that has partially caved in, by the 311 call center, and next to the Amtrak/Metro North railroad tracks.
There is also the question of what homeless men will be placed in the two sites, Blondell Avenue 4- 5 blocks from Lehman High School, and 2 - 3 blocks from PS 12, while 1682 Stillwell Avenue is less than two blocks from the Icahn Charter School. Level One sex Offenders are determined to be low risk off reoffending and low risk to the public, and Level Two Sex Offenders have a moderate risk of reoffending could be placed in either or both of these homeless shelters. Level Three Sex Offenders are considered to have a high risk of reoffending, and would not be placed in either shelter. There are 2,286 sex offenders in the Bronx, 726 level one, 870 level two, 640 level three, and 50 undetermined. The Bronx has the highest number of sex offenders of all five boroughs in NYC, and any county in New York State according to Division of Criminal Justice.
Below - Royal Flush on a normal day.
Below - The parking lot next to 1682 Stillwell Avenue, with the 311 call center and Amtrak/Metro North Railroad tracks behind the site.
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