A shelter for the homeless at the foot of Central Park, at one of the most prestigious addresses in Manhattan? After three years of legal battle, a New York court gave the green light to this town hall project, to the chagrin of residents of the neighborhood nicknamed the “billionaires’ corner”.
Since 2018, the Democratic town hall has been pushing this accommodation center project on 58th Street, between 6th and 7th avenues, formerly the Park Savoy Hotel.
A group of residents, grouped within the “West 58th Street Coalition”, had denounced the project in court, pointing in particular to the increased risk of fire in this building of 1910, in “an otherwise prosperous district”.
But the New York court of appeals ruled in a decision released Friday that two previous courts had deemed the city hall’s decision to classify the building as being able to accommodate permanent residents “rational”, and that the last resort had not place to be.
The social services of the municipality welcomed this green light given to a project “unnecessarily delayed”.
The city and the project’s partner association, Westhab, “are finalizing the required permits” and intend to open the center “as soon as possible,” said Isaac McGinn, spokesperson for these services, in a statement.
The center, which plans to accommodate some 150 people, all employed or actively seeking employment, will be monitored by security personnel 24 hours a day, with a telephone line also operating 24 hours a day to respond to residents of the neighborhood. he stressed.
This decision comes as New York tries to relocate thousands of homeless people, accommodated – since the closure of accommodation centers in the heart of the pandemic – in hotels in Manhattan, especially in the vicinity of Times Square. The town hall now hopes to see tourism pick up again and many hotels reopen.
Homeless people have become much more visible in certain neighborhoods of Manhattan with the pandemic, fueling controversies over their care in a city where rents remain inaccessible for many families.
It is in this district that have been erected needle-thin skyscrapers, with luxurious apartments with breathtaking views of Central Park. Billionaire Ken Griffin notably acquired a “quadruplex” there in 2019 for the then record sum of $ 238 million, while entrepreneur Michael Dell had bought a duplex there for $ 100.5 million in 2014.
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