Assemblyman William Colton (D—Gravesend, Bensonhurst, Bath Beach and Dyker Heights) strongly condemns the decision of the city’s Department of Homeless Services (DHS) to proceed with construction of the controversial homeless shelter slated for 86^th Street and 25^th Avenue, calling it “reckless and ill-advised,” and has drafted legislation that, if signed into law, would prevent homeless shelters from being sited within 500 feet of a transit facility, school or place of worship.

Assemblyman Colton was appalled when a representative of DHS called his office with the news that the plan now is to break ground this month on the shelter, despite ongoing opposition and the discovery that numerous shortcuts have been taken in the permitting process. These include the bypassing of key requirements, including gas shutoff, water shutoff, electrical disconnection, sewer capping, rodent control, notifications to neighbors and Community Board 11, photos and safety documentation, and pre-demolition inspection, all of which are normally mandatory. In addition, the assemblyman continues to be concerned that the asbestos inspection, which the city Department of Buildings did require, was fraudulent, and that the inspector who said he had done the inspection, and who has prior criminal convictions for filing fraudulent asbestos reports in New York City, actually never went to the property at when he said he was there. Also, a critical Stormwater Construction Permit from the city’s Department of Environmental Protection was missing without the alternative Determination of Non-Jurisdiction having been filed when a demolition permit was issued in December, 2025.

The shortcuts that have been taken, Assemblyman Colton says, threaten the safety and well-being of the surrounding neighborhood and the residents of the shelter, and he emphasizes that local residents and business-owners have lost trust in the fairness of the city’s actions.

“This has always been the wrong project in the wrong location,” contends Assemblyman Colton. “Community opposition to the project has been sustained from the beginning, and has only grown as evidence has surfaced that the city has not taken due care to make sure that all appropriate procedures are followed. People here worry not only about the impact of the shelter on the neighborhood, but also whether the entire shelter system is not simply a boondoggle that enables greedy developers and shelter operators to make money on the backs of our homeless neighbors, who would be better served by developing permanent housing with supportive services available as necessary.”

Opposition to the shelter plan has been strong and sustained since the city announced in late 2023 that it planned to open a homeless shelter for 150 single men at 2501 86^th Street, which is on a busy shopping strip, near homes, religious institutions, day care centers and senior centers. Numerous protests over the course of several months drew thousands of protesters, both at the site and at City Hall, and in the summer of 2024, daily protests at the site commenced. Another protest is being planned at the site.

In addition, more than 53,000 people have signed a petition in opposition to the plan, which Assemblyman Colton says would devastate the community without actually benefiting the homeless people it is ostensibly being built to serve; a better solution, he insists, is using the billions of taxpayer dollars now funneled into the shelter system for the construction of permanent affordable housing that could provide the fresh start that is needed by the city’s homeless population.