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Residents of the East Village are expressing strong opposition to Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s proposal to relocate one of New York City’s most infamous homeless shelters to their area. Locals fear this move could turn their neighborhood into a hub for homelessness and potentially increase crime rates.
The Bellevue Shelter on East 30th Street in Midtown, soon to be closed, has housed various individuals, including former convicts and others with troubling histories. Among them was Ramon Rivera, who infamously embarked on a 2.5-hour stabbing spree in Manhattan on November 18, 2024, resulting in the deaths of three people.
During a heated community meeting on Tuesday, Reverend Keith Gadson, alongside hundreds of local residents, voiced strong disapproval of the plan. “None of you can stop drinking and drugging… and all lingering around here creating crimes and all kinds of stuff,” he declared, urging officials to consider moving the facility elsewhere. “Put it in your neighborhood!” he added.
In March, Mayor Mamdani announced that the 250 residents of the Bellevue Shelter would be relocated downtown due to the facility’s “severe state of disrepair.”
Starting May 1, the city’s primary homeless intake center, responsible for assessing individuals and connecting them with mental health and social services, will be situated at 8 East 3rd Street. This location is currently home to a shelter and services operated by the nonprofit organization Project Renewal.
The facility will have 117 beds, with residents staying roughly one to two days before being relocated to other sites, the Department of Homeless Services said.
Stays are supposed to be short-term, but the Bellevue site came under fire from critics because the city housed homeless New Yorkers there for months at a time.
Intake services for families without children will be relocated to the 117-bed sister facility at 333 Bowery, which is about a block away from the East 3rd Street site.
And the city has the power to flood both buildings with hundreds of more residents — for as long as it wants — according to a review of Mamdani’s March 26 “emergency executive order” approving the shelter switcheroo.
The order suspends a local city code that currently prohibits more than 200 shelter beds at shelter sites. The suspension also waives safety-code regulations prohibiting no more than 90 people on the first floor of both East Village sites.
“This will not be temporary shelters as they claim, it will be mega-shelters,” said Jason Murillo, a neighborhood activist and Republican running for state Senate.
Murillo accused Mamdani of pushing through the relocation plan under the guise of an “emergency” to avoid community backlash.
He and other neighbors are planning to file a lawsuit to block the opening, fearing the facility will be a magnet for criminals.
During the meeting, Murillo told DHS officials residents were upset over the rushed process — and have serious concerns that the shelters would be a bad mix for a neighborhood filled with apartment buildings, restaurants, schools, hotels and bars.
“We support services for vulnerable New Yorkers, but the issue here is transparency and planning,” he said. “Where is the environmental review? Where was the public safety plan to make sure we are all safe?”
DHS officials insisted the city notified the neighborhood as fast as it could — and that it would take steps to ensure both the interior and exterior of both buildings would be kept clean and secure.
Other residents in attendance questioned why the Bellevue site simply couldn’t be renovated or why Mamdani couldn’t find another location for it in Midtown.
“We have lots and lots of empty store space!” ripped one woman. “You can rent a store space in the 42nd street area? So why us?”
It’s unclear what will become of the prime Midtown real estate once the Bellevue intake center is vacated.
DHS police and security staff will regularly monitor the new shelters’ exteriors to limit crowding and loitering and will work with NYPD cops to address any community concerns, a Mamdani administration spokesman said, adding there is “no expectation” lines will form outside.
Both East Village intake centers will operate on a “temporary” basis until the city builds a permanent site, a process that could take several years to complete, he said.
Most residents staying at the Bellevue site will be relocated to more permanent accommodations in other parts of NYC — not the new East Village intake centers, the spokesman added.
However, neighborhood activist Veronica Gonzalez said on X that “local residents are fed up.”
“Our community, families, and district deserve answers from City Hall and the mayor,” added Gonzalez, a Republican running for state Assembly.
“We hope to receive an answer soon from Mayor Mamdani and a full pause to the relocation of the Bellevue Homeless Shelter [to] the East Village.”