Residents of the East Village have taken legal action against Mayor Zohran Mamdani in a last-ditch effort to halt the planned relocation of hundreds of homeless men to a new shelter in their area.
The lawsuit, submitted on Monday, aims to secure an emergency restraining order to delay the “hasty” opening of the shelter on Third Street, scheduled for May 1.
This location was chosen by City Hall as one of two intake shelters in Manhattan, intended to replace the infamous Bellevue homeless shelter. Mayor Mamdani has announced plans to shut down Bellevue by the end of the month due to its reputation for housing potentially dangerous individuals.
The lawsuit argues that city officials, led by Mamdani, dubiously declared an “emergency” to justify the closure of the Midtown facility. The decision to move its residents to the East Village was executed with alarming haste, according to the plaintiffs.
“This case is not about the City’s decision to close the Bellevue Intake Shelter,” the lawsuit filed in Manhattan Supreme Court clarifies.
It challenges the City’s rapid and legally questionable choice to establish a new citywide homeless adult male intake center at 8 East 3rd Street, criticizing the lack of adherence to legal protocols required for such an impactful decision.”
The shelter skirmish erupted in March when Mamdani announced the move to close the 250-resident Bellevue shelter on 30th Street, arguing the city’s largest homeless shelter for men had fallen into severe disrepair.
City officials revealed families without minors would be relocated to 333 Bowery, while single adult men would go to an East Village facility.
Locals quickly decried the decision, lambasting city officials during a fiery April 7 community meeting.
“None of you all can stop drinking and drugging … and all lingering around here creating crimes and all kinds of stuff,” the Rev. Keith Gadson, one of the hundreds of locals at the meeting, thundered. “Put it in your neighborhood!”
The lawsuit — which was filed by the residents’ group VOICE, for the Village Organization for the Integrity of Community Engagement — contends city Department of Homeless Services officials actually apologized for the “rushed” process.
Officials also admitted there was no “immediate danger” at the Bellevue shelter, undercutting Mamdani’s emergency declaration, the lawsuit contends.
The East Village is saturated with homeless shelters, a fact that would have been obvious if city officials conducted a so-called “Fair Share analysis” designed to make sure public facilities are equitably spread over the Big Apple, according to the suit.
And the city failed to comply with its own codes and laws by seeking to put hundreds of people in a building with strict occupancy limits, the lawsuit argues.
“We have taken action to stop this dangerous and unnecessarily rushed non-emergency emergency plan for several reasons,” said Caleb Berger, an East Village local, in a statement.
“I truly feel for these men, but should the lone intake facility for homeless men for the entire city be located on a tight residential block? I fear this rushed decision is jeopardizing both the safety of my neighbors and of these men themselves.”
Mamdani chimed in on the lawsuit Tuesday during an unrelated event, contending Bellevue’s conditions have been unacceptable for years.
“We received expert guidance that vacating that site was an urgent and immediate need, as opposed to a suggestion to consider in the years to come,” he said.
City Hall officials repeated Hizzoner’s assertion about Bellevue shelter’s conditions.
“Leaving people in a space that is falling apart is a failure of our responsibility to care for our fellow New Yorkers,” a spokesperson said in a statement.
“The decision to vacate was necessary for safety, and based on clear expert guidance. Now, we have an urgent obligation to act. Transferring shelter intake to 8 E 3rd St is critical to ensuring that every New Yorker in need has access to safe, dignified shelter without delay.”
— Additional reporting by Craig McCarthy
