A building on 107th Street will remain a transitional shelter for 80 homeless women until November, despite concerns about its landlord.
That’s what New York City Council member Melissa Mark-Viverito told Community Board 7, which represents the Upper West Side, on Tuesday night.
CB7 members and local activists have been fighting against this shelter since women began arriving at 237 West 107th St., a “single room occupancy” building that was known until recently as the West Side Inn, about three weeks ago.
A transitional shelter there would line the pockets of a notorious landlord and contribute to the loss of permanent housing in the area, community members argued at a CB7 meeting on Feb. 24.
Local tenant associations are organizing against the shelter, but according to Peter Arndtsen, district manager for the Columbus/Amsterdam Business Improvement District, the BID is not working to take the building out of landlord Mark Hersh’s hands—though he knows that some tenants associations are talking about doing so.
“I’m hearing from people on the street who are opposed to helping this landlord altogether, and working to take over the building. There’s interest in trying to buy the building, because they believe if it stays in the landlord’s hands, there will be continued problems,” Arndtsen said.
After meeting with the commissioner of the city’s Department of Homeless Services yesterday, Mark-Viverito said on Tuesday that the original plan for a nine-year contract for the shelter is now totally off the table, but it will continue to operate there in the short term.
“Help USA and Homeless Services need to be there for nine months and to keep the number of beds at 80,” she said. “In these nine months, they’ll plan for a transition.”
The shelter began operation without community input because DHS had declared an emergency situation, and Help USA began providing services at the site soon after.
Just hours before it started, representatives from both DHS and Help USA decided not to attend the original CB7 meeting about the long-term contract, saying they had put the project on hold due to concerns about the building’s owner.
Arndtsen confirmed Tuesday that the landlord was Hersh, whom activists refer to as “Batman” because he has reportedly chased after tenants with a baseball bat.
“One could say he [Hersh] is a typical slumlord of old, a poverty pimp. … The neighborhood’s not opposed to a shelter, but to a shelter where evil is enriched. We’re concerned about the quality of their care,” said the Rev. John Duffell of the Church of the Ascension on 107th Street.
Hersh’s name is not listed on any public records attached to 237 107th Street through the New York City Department of Buildings or Department of Finance.
“These landlords have set up these shell companies that they operate through and hide behind,” Mark-Viverito said at the meeting, explaining that she has introduced legislation to increase accountability.
She added on Tuesday that she will push for a full assessment of the building, including sending Department of Buildings inspectors out on Wednesday, but said it has been difficult to balance the neighborhood’s concerns with the needs of the city’s homeless population.
“People have found themselves in this situation because of the economic situation,” she said, adding later, “We want to provide quality service to those people.”
Hersh’s number is publicly listed as that of the Hotel Saint James. The receptionist said that Hersh was not available Tuesday night.
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