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Shelter for 106 Homeless Men to Open in Crown Heights Next Month, City Says

 This building on Bergen Street between New York and Brooklyn avenues in Crown Heights will become a shelter for 106 homeless men next month, the city said.
This building on Bergen Street between New York and Brooklyn avenues in Crown Heights will become a shelter for 106 homeless men next month, the city said.
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DNAinfo/Rachel Holliday Smith

CROWN HEIGHTS — A new shelter for more than 100 homeless men is set to open on Bergen Street next month, officials from the city’s Department of Homeless Services said Monday.

The facility, located at 1173 Bergen St. between New York and Brooklyn avenues in Crown Heights, will provide shelter for 106 men ages 50 and older who are employed, DHS officials said. The shelter will have on-site services targeted for older adults, the department said, including workforce development assistance.

The news comes as the mayor is set Tuesday to unveil a plan to open 90 new homeless shelters in the five boroughs, The New York Times reported, with the aim of reducing street homelessness and the use of hotels as emergency shelter. The homeless population in New York's shelter system recently hit 60,000, a record high.

DHS spokeswoman Lauren Gray would not say whether the Bergen Street location is part of the 90 new shelters included in the plan.

“We know that each homeless New Yorker faces unique barriers, and this location is part of our work to move past one-size-fits-all solutions and provide the tailored services needed,” Gray said.

The Bergen Street shelter will be run by the service provider CORE and will open in March, the agency said. Work on the building's plumbing and sprinkler systems is ongoing now, according to construction permits filed on the site.

An informational meeting about the shelter will be held at the building Saturday, hosted by the area’s local community board, which scheduled the event after receiving multiple inquiries from worried residents about the project, staff said.

In an announcement, Brooklyn Community Board 8 said the March 4 meeting will include representatives from DHS, CORE and the NYPD to answer questions about the shelter. The meeting will take place at 11 a.m. at 1173 Bergen St. For information, call the board’s office at (718) 467-5574.