By Serena Solomon
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
UPPER WEST SIDE — Residents mobilized against plans for a homeless shelter in the Upper West Side at a community meeting Tuesday night, saying it would reduce affordable housing in the area and detract from the neighborhood.
The Department of Homeless Services is planning to house 135 homeless women at 237 W. 107th St., which was formerly the West Side Inn, under an emergency provision that allows the department to bypass the normal approval process.
Roughly 100 people gathered at a Community Board 7 Health and Human Services subcommittee meeting on Tuesday night to discuss their concerns about the shelter.
"They [the DHS] try to get in fast under the radar before anyone raises an eyebrow," said Mel Wymore, the chair of CB7.
The board learned of the department's plans on Feb. 8 from a letter stating that an "emergency declaration" was in force due to high levels of homelessness, allowing the department to bypass the usual community approval process.
The department has since held off plans to finalize the proposal due to community pressure.
"What we have is a neighborhood where people live for decades," said West 107th Street resident Steve Carlin at the meeting. "These are people who won't have roots in the neighborhood."
Carlin said he wanted to see the building return to affordable housing with permanent tenants.
Others at the meeting claimed the shelter was a money making effort by landlords and a shortcut for the city at the expense of the community.
"This is a honey pot for landlords," said Miki Fiegel, the vice chair of the subcommittee. "There is an absolute pattern here."
She said the city has a history of converting single room occupancy units (SROs), which are reserved for low-income earners, into homeless shelters. Fiegel said the buildings were first changed into hotels and then into shelters when the homeless rate increased.
She alleged the Mayor's office typically searched the city for buildings to convert, like the West Side Inn, which had multi-room floorplans suitable for a shelter. Landlords were then paid thousands by the city to house the homeless Fiegel said.
Residents also raised concerns about the potential shelter landlord who the West Side Spirit identified as Mark Hersh, a landlord who was accused of chasing tenants at another property with baseball bat according to the Village Voice.
By the end of the meeting, residents settled on a letter writing campaign to the office of Mayor Michael Bloomberg and CB7 agreed to push for an emergency meeting with Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services, Linda Gibbs, before the end of the week.
