Protests and questions of legality appeared to be of no concern to Gotham’s mayor as City Hall advanced its “equitable” plan for the homeless with a widely opposed Brooklyn shelter.
Following Sunday night protests aimed at physically blocking passage of construction vehicles, residents of the south Brooklyn neighborhood of Bensonhurst remained on the scene Monday, banging drums and waving signs against the construction of a shelter for men. Their stand with support from Albany seemed of little interest to New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D) as his office released a statement affirming how he is “committed” to doing the same in “every community.”
“Homelessness exists in every part of our city, and in order to effectively address this citywide crisis, we must tackle it across the five boroughs,” a spokesperson for City Hall told the New York Post. “This forthcoming facility will be the first shelter site in this district and will provide homeless individuals with a wide array of services and supports to help them get back on their feet and build their lives in the city.”
The spokesperson added, “As part of our equitable siting approach, we are committed to ensuring that every community has adequate safety net resources.”
As had been reported, protests Sunday night into Monday morning found at least one individual arrested as dozens of police were dispatched to manage the scene and allow construction vehicles to arrive at the planned site of a shelter capable of housing 150 men expected to open in 2027.
Hundreds of protesters physically block construction site of NYC men’s homeless shelter https://t.co/LkoprKeR8g
— American Wire News (@americanwire_) March 30, 2026
A July 2024 altercation at the scene led to charges — that were eventually dropped — against District 43 councilwoman Susan Zhuang (D) for allegedly biting NYPD Deputy Chief Frank DiGiacomo during a protest.
Adding to the outrage that had been expressed Sunday, Wang Xiaoyu spoke with the Post Monday in opposition to the shelter, “We have to fight back because this is life and death.”
“The people have the power to change things, but we have to be persistent,” he told the newspaper. “This mayor thinks he has the power to do anything he wants, but that’s not the case. He thinks the best way to make the homeless feel at home is to put them in busy areas like 86th Street, but these people are mentally ill. They need a hospital, not a shelter.”
“We’re not giving up. We’d do whatever it takes to stop them from building. We’ll show up every day, filing legal injunctions, delaying, delaying, delaying,” said protester Grace Li. “If the police come, the police come — but we won’t stop fighting because this is our backyard and we won’t let the city house dangerous people here. This is not us being insensitive, this is us being realistic.”
Ahead of the protest, New York state Sen. Steve Chan (R) and Assemblymember Lester Chang (R) introduced bills aimed at blocking shelters from being opened within 500 feet of transit facilities, schools, and churches. Chan also told the Brooklyn Daily Eagle that, in its current state, the construction of a homeless shelter cannot proceed: “There is no contract with anybody. The Board of Standards and Appeals challenge that I wrote says that the permit should not have been issued, in accordance with the Department of Buildings’ rules and guidelines.”
Meanwhile, as Hizzoner joined other leftist politicians in foisting the cost of problems exacerbated by their policies on the taxpayer, proposing the already exorbitant expense of over $81,000 spent annually per homeless person be increased to nearly $100,000, Mamdani already showed himself willing to shirk responsibility for handling the homeless crisis.
In February, amid mismanagement of snowstorms, the mayor downplayed deaths of the homeless as having been “overdose-related” after previously being held responsible for 19 deaths related to subfreezing temperatures.
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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