Share and Follow
On Sunday evening, a wave of enraged protesters descended upon a proposed homeless shelter site in Brooklyn, effectively halting construction trucks in their tracks. The uproar followed rumors suggesting that work on the new facility could commence as soon as Monday morning.
In Bensonhurst, several hundred demonstrators stretched across multiple blocks, demanding that Mayor Zohran Mamdani abandon the city’s plan to build a 150-bed men’s shelter at the intersection of 86th Street and 25th Avenue.
Amid the tension, approximately 100 NYPD officers, some clad in riot gear, were deployed to manage the unrest. Residents, undeterred, toppled barricades and encircled a moving container truck near the intended construction site. The crowd had been stirred by unconfirmed whispers that the groundbreaking would start at dawn.
The scene grew more intense as a protester positioned himself behind the tires of a container truck attempting to access the area, where several construction vehicles, including dump trucks, were stationed.
“We’re here to protest this homeless shelter, which is going to bring danger to the neighborhood,” explained Kevin Zhang, a 40-year-old protester. “We’ll stay here all night and come back tomorrow night and the night after that and keep coming back until the mayor shuts down construction of this shelter,” he asserted to The Post.
“This is a major thoroughfare that mothers and children and elderly people take every day. The subway is right here. Homeless shelters that house dangerous people need to be in isolated areas, not in the middle of major transportation hubs,” Zhang said.
Locals said they fear the men’s shelter, which is near several senior housing complexes, could become a magnet for drugs, crime and other trouble.
Protests against the planned facility in the predominantly Asian District 43 have been ongoing since the city first notified the community about plans for the homeless shelter in November 2023.
During one heated protest in July 2024, Councilwoman Susan Zhuang (D-43) was arrested for allegedly biting a deputy NYPD chief during a scream-filled clash with cops. The charges were later dropped.
The Department of Social Services told New12 earlier this month that the department had sent a message stating that Mamdani’s administration intends to restart the proposed project, but that construction had not yet begun and the project was a long way from completion.
The shelter is still planned to open in late 2027, the agency added.
The Department of Social Services did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment on the construction timeline.
“Mamdani thinks he can put homeless shelters in any neighborhood he wants because he wants the homeless to feel like they are at home, because maybe being around families will rehabilitate them,” said protestor Alex Lin.
“He could put shelters anywhere in the city, but he chooses to put them right in the middle of our neighborhood,” Lin, 35, added.
“He doesn’t care about the danger that poses to us. Look at all the cops that showed up tonight. Will the cops show up when some homeless drug addict lays his hands on a child?”