Park Savoy Hotel
- A homeless shelter quietly opened last week on NYC's Billionaires' Row, named for its ultra-wealthy residents.
- Residents pushed back against the facility for three years, claiming it was a safety hazard.
- National homelessness rates spiked in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.
A homeless shelter that opened in the heart of New York City last week is creating tension among residents of the affluent Midtown Manhattan neighborhood.
The facility opened in the former Park Savoy Hotel and can house 80 homeless men. It is positioned a block from the famed Carnegie Hall and next to the entrance of the first supertall condo building on "Billionaires' Row" — a stretch named for its luxury skyscrapers and ultra-wealthy residents. The condos, One57 tower, is home to the city's first $100 million apartment, purchased by Michael Dell in 2014.
Residents successfully stalled the shelter's opening for three years, claiming it would be a safety hazard in the neighborhood, the New York Post reported. According to The Nation, a coalition of Billionaires' Row residents paid hundreds of thousands to thwart the shelter, paying lobbyists and erecting billboards targeted at then-Mayor Bill de Blasio.
In May 2022, the New York Court of Appeals ruled that a hearing would not be necessary to assess safety and welfare standards, effectively ending the attempted blockade against the facility.
National homeless rates spiked in 2020 during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, up 2.2% from 2019 to an estimated 580,466 individuals who experienced homelessness in a single night, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
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And while HUD reported that homelessness rates decreased by 8% in 2021, its findings showed advances primarily for families with children, while individual homelessness "remained relatively flat."
"The findings of [the report] suggest that federal COVID-19 relief had positive impacts on sheltered homelessness," HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge said in a statement in February. "Yet we know that homelessness in America remains an urgent crisis. As long as people in this nation continue to lack affordable, secure housing, our work to put Housing First is not done."
In New York City, the Midtown homeless shelter is just the latest in a series of controversies in the area. Animosity has been brewing between residents and restaurant owners who have maintained outdoor seating areas first opened early in the pandemic.
The Osborne, a nearby co-op building on 57th Street across the street from Carnegie Hall, is currently pushing against its commercial tenants to halt outdoor seating, citing frustration with late-night noise, the New York Post reported. The businesses are fighting back, claiming they are operating in adherence to the city's Open Streets program.
source https://www.businessinsider.com/nyc-homeless-shelter-opens-billionaires-row-after-years-of-turmoil-2022-7