BEDFORD-STUYVESANT — Dozens of Bed-Stuy residents, elected officials and community stakeholders gathered at Woodhull Medical Center on Thursday to voice their views on a planned supportive housing building for mental health patients and low-income individuals.
Many showed up in support of the new 89 affordable units proposed for the corner of Throop and Park avenues, saying it would be a welcome addition to the neighborhood and provide much needed below-market-rate apartments.
The plan comes from supportive housing group Comunilife, which seeks to construct the Woodhull Community Residence, a 6-story building at 185 Throop Avenue.
A majority of the tenants would be clients referred by the hospital’s psychiatry department, who would receive on-site services at the building.
The space, which is currently being used as a parking lot for EMS vehicles, would be leased to the organization by NYC Health + Hospitals.
“As residents of a dense city, we observe the struggles of our fellow citizens with mental illness on a daily basis,” said Dynishal Gross, speaking on behalf of Councilmember Robert Cornegy.
“Far too many fend for themselves in the cold streets, parks and transit system because adequate resources do not exist to deal with their complex challenges.”
Woodhull Community Residence would be “far more secure than many local housing options currently available to those of low incomes,” the councilman added.
A total of 36 studios would be open to people of low income making 60 percent of the area's median Income or less, according to Rosa Gil, Comunilife’s president and CEO.
The apartments would be rented at an estimated $907 per month, based on 2015 data, Gil said.
The other 53 are designated for those living with mental illness who would have access to on-site social and case-management services, as well as care coordination.
Talib Nichiren, chair of Woodhull Medical Center’s Community Advisory Board, called the project a “positive addition” for the hospital’s patients and the neighborhood.
Many discharged patients currently have no place to go, he said.
“Creating housing with supportive services for these patients will lift their spirits, but also help them transition back into the community," Nichiren added.
Other elected officials Thursday said the project would provide affordable housing in a city where below-market-rate units have been harder to come by, especially in an area “hardest hit by rising rents.”
The proposed 53,000-square-foot residence met some opposition from locals who voiced concerns over a school directly across the street from the lot, as well as a lack of community outreach.
“Our lives are going to be impacted by this seemingly wonderful plan. We’re not against supportive housing, we are good residents and we’re all for that,” said Ena McPherson, a member of a block association on nearby Vernon Avenue.
“But it sets a very bad precedent when you go ahead and made all of the wonderful plans and didn’t send us a letter.”
In a presentation preceding public comment, Gil cited community outreach done with stakeholders including Brooklyn’s Community Board 3, the local tenant associations for Sumner and Tompkins houses and a nearby church.
Martha Jackson, treasurer for the Sumner Housing Association, worried that the community is already “surrounded by mental shelters” whose residents often go unmonitored.
“I’m also concerned that we have so many schools in our area where our children are going to school, early in the morning when these people are out there in the street," Jackson said.
“What will happen to these kids? Who’s going to monitor them?”
The NYC Health + Hospitals panel will consider the comments made at Thursday’s hearing.
Pending approval, Comunilife anticipates construction to begin in Fall 2016 with completion in 2018.
