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Chelsea Board Hopes Nonprofit Will Amend Plans for 325-Bed Homeless Facility

By DNAinfo Staff on June 14, 2010 5:28pm  | Updated on June 14, 2010 5:07pm

Bowery Residents Committee has plans for a 12-story, 325-bed homeless facility in Chelsea.
Bowery Residents Committee has plans for a 12-story, 325-bed homeless facility in Chelsea.
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Bowery Residents Committee

By Nicole Breskin

DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

CHELSEA — Chelsea community leaders are anxious over a plan to place a $15 million homeless shelter on a largely residential strip on West 25th Street that they say could be detrimental to locals’ quality of life.

Community Board 4 chairman John Weis said local residents worried that the plan to place a 12-story, 325-bed shelter for homeless men — some struggling with addictions and mental illness — at 127 West 25th St. could be dangerous.

The board scheduled a meeting at Fulton Auditorium in Chelsea at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, with representatives from Bowery Residents Committee, which will run the facility, along with the Department of Homeless Services and elected officials.

“We are not against homeless shelters,” Weis told DNAinfo ahead the meeting. “We are just concerned about safety and wellbeing. This facility is far too large for the neighborhood.”

The plan will cost $15 million under a 33-year lease, as reported by the New York Observer, and is largely supported by homeless services advocates.

“BRC’s state-of-the-art complex will provide temporary shelter and comprehensive services for homeless individuals to transition back to permanent housing in the community," said Heather Janik, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeless Services. "Homeless Services meets demand by working cooperatively with shelter providers in communities throughout New York City, so that our clients can live and be served with dignity and respect.”

Bowery Residents Committee helps more than 10,000 needy New Yorkers with housing and programs in mental health, addictions and vocational services, according to its website.

According to the committee's building plans, the Chelsea facility will have a floor devoted to outpatient programs for addictions and mental health and another for detox for drug and alcohol dependency. Four floors will provide shelter.

Muzzy Rosenblatt, executive director for the committee, did not return calls for comment.