Assemblyman William Colton (D—Gravesend, Bensonhurst, Bath Beach and Dyker Heights) and City Councilmember Susan Zhuang (D—Bensonhurst, Bath Beach, Gravesend, Dyker Heights, Boro Park and Sunset Park) held a press conference on Thursday, November 21, outside 2501 86^th Street, the site of the controversial proposed homeless shelter, and demanded that the city declare a state of emergency with respect to how it handles its homeless population, in the wake of the fatal stabbing of three innocent people, allegedly by a resident of one of the city’s shelters.

According to news reports, on Monday, November 18, a homeless man who had been a resident at the Bellevue Men’s Shelter, and who has a long history of arrests and mental health incidents, but who had been released back onto the street just a month earlier, was arrested in connection to the stabbings.

Declaring a state of emergency would put into motion a series of corrective actions that could help resolve a situation that has become increasingly untenable, Assemblyman Colton said.

“We have been raising the alarm for many months over the dangerous, misguided city policy that erects these shelters, which are no more than warehouses for those sent to them,” said Assemblyman Colton. “Now, a resident of one of these shelters, with documented mental health issues, has allegedly stabbed three innocent people to death, one only a block from the shelter where he was housed. It’s time that the city face up to reality – the shelters don’t help those who they are supposed to be assisting, and they can pose a significant danger to the communities where they are sited. It’s time for a new policy that really helps the city’s homeless population, rather than enriching developers and shelter operators.”

Assemblyman Colton has proposed a multi-pronged plan to address the issue. “First of all,” he explained, “if a state of emergency is declared, the state would be required to immediately create more psychiatric beds, and the city and court system would have to start enforcing Kendra’s Law, through which individuals who are acting erratically can be involuntarily remanded into custody for observation to see if they are a threat to themselves or others, and be required to accept appropriate treatment if they are determined to be dangerous.”

In addition, said Assemblyman Colton, the city must immediately stop opening new homeless shelters, which drain money that could be used to help New Yorkers in need into the pockets of greedy developers and shelter operators.

Instead, Assemblyman Colton said the city should fund targeted job training and drug rehabilitation programs for those who need them, as well as develop policies that could provide more affordable housing to New Yorkers. To that end, said Assemblyman Colton, the city must immediately work with NYCHA to repair all vacant apartments within its system and make them available to ease the city’s housing crisis.

“Monday’s tragic events serve as a stark reminder that mentally ill homeless individuals are not receiving the social services they need from the city,” stated Councilmember Zhuang. “The fact that a mentally ill homeless person with multiple arrests and convictions was still free in the streets is unacceptable. Now, the city wants to bring this danger straight to our community with this proposed homeless shelter. Building more homeless shelters is not a solution to dealing with a citywide mental health crisis. The city should concentrate on providing more social services rather than homeless shelters.”

The site at 86^th Street and 25^th Avenue has been a flashpoint since area residents learned of city plans to put a homeless shelter housing 150 single men with substance abuse or mental health issues there. It’s a particularly problematic location, given the population density of the area and the site’s proximity to schools, senior centers and houses of worship. Assemblyman Colton and Councilmember Zhuang have repeatedly called on the city to develop permanent affordable housing and appropriate supportive services that would solve the issue, rather than perpetuating it.

Approximately 100 area residents and businesspeople were in attendance at the press conference, to show their continued opposition to having a shelter at the site. Assemblyman Lester Chang, State Senator-elect Steve Chan, Dr. Tim Law, Lun Li and Joe Rizzi were also in attendance and addressed the crowd.