Thirteen of my neighbors and I have sued the City of New York over the planned homeless shelter at 225 25th Street in Greenwood Heights. We sued because the City refuses to treat us with fairness, transparency or basic respect.
We filed pro se because legal counsel was beyond the means of our working-class neighborhood. We had to file the lawsuit because every other channel had failed. The Mayor’s Office. The First Deputy Mayor. The Department of Social Services Commissioner. Thousands of petition signatures. Letters of support from our elected officials. We were treated by the City, not as citizens but as nuisances.
The warehouse-style shelter proposal at 225 25th St. is not a one-off. New York City established the Fair Share policy in 1989 because it understood that concentration produces harm. Our small neighborhood already hosts eleven homeless shelters in approximately a one-mile stretch, with more, including a federal prison; a methadone clinic; multiple power stations; the BQE; a concrete plant; and other facilities that most communities are not asked to absorb. We are not refusing our share. This neighborhood has carried it over many times…