STATEMENT BY SENATOR JEFF KLEIN, ASSEMBLYMAN JEFFREY DINOWITZ & COUNCILMAN ANDREW COHEN ON THE VAN CORTLANDT MOTEL

   “A year ago the City promised not to transform the Van Cortlandt Motel into a homeless shelter — and then they did. Six months ago, when the community learned of the secret men’s shelter inside of the motel, the City promised to forgo the motel’s use as a shelter by September. Today, we’ve learned that the city is moving the men out to make way for a family shelter. This is simply another case of broken promises, lies and a severe lack of transparency. Communities must voice their opinions when shelters come into neighborhoods and the opaque siting process must end.  The legislature must pass Senator Klein’s commonsense homeless shelter siting legislation to empower communities by giving them a say to prevent this from happening over and over again.”