Residents outraged about men’s homeless shelter coming to White Plains Road

One of the main causes of concern is the proposed shelter’s proximity to nearby schools and a playground across the street.

News 12 Staff

Jan 19, 2022, 10:05 PM

Updated 1,051 days ago

Share:

Some Pelham Parkway residents say they are outraged after learning that a 140-bed men’s homeless shelter is coming to their neighborhood. 
The homeless shelter is planned to be built this fall on White Plains Road. 
"You have to be fair. We have to have a fair share, the homeless needs a place to be. I'm all for a shelter, but not at this location,” said Roxanne Delgado from Friends of Pelham Parkway. 
Members of the community say they were shocked when they recently found out about the shelter. 
"We want no more homeless shelters in the Bronx. The Bronx has been inundated with homeless shelters,” said Albert D’ Angelo from Community Board 11.  "Especially since we have children. We have hundreds, thousands of children in the area. That will be affected by the people living in this project."
One of the main causes of concern is the proposed shelter’s proximity to nearby schools and a playground across the street. They say there are already two shelters in the area. 
"Terrible idea. Our community is obviously not in agreement with it. Our community board, the Department of Homeless Services has not kept anybody informed about what's going on here,” said resident John Denizard. 
Community members called on elected officials to hopefully pull the plug on the project. 
"My stance is that the community needs to be involved. It feels like the overall community feels left out in the process, and that's not fair,” said Council Member Marjorie Velazquez. 
Velazquez tells News 12 she encourages residents to reach out to her office to voice their concerns. 
Community Board 11 will be holding a public hearing on Feb. 3 at 7 p.m. 
News 12 reached out to the Department of Homeless Services for a statement and they responded saying, “Bronxites who fall on hard times deserve access to the types of services and supports that can help restabilize their lives with dignity, but today there are no shelters in this Bronx community, which means there is no way to offer shelter services and supports in this community to Bronxites experiencing homelessness from this community. This new high-quality facility will help ensure Bronx communities have the critical safety net resources they need to support neighbors in need and offer 140 individuals experiencing homelessness the opportunity to get back on their feet closer to their support networks and anchors of life, like jobs, healthcare, family, and houses of worship.”