Facility for Homeless, Mentally Challenged Coming to Astoria

When people cry "Not in my backyard," the answer is typical: "Well, where, then?"

Such is the debate confronting the Western Astoria waterfront community, the site chosen to be the new home for a 50-unit housing development that will house mentally challenged and homeless New Yorkers.

Councilman Peter Vallone and the Astoria Houses neighborhood that surrounds the proposed site at 27th Avenue and 2nd Street, is overwhelingly opposed to the construction and is arguing against the unit, originally planned by the organization Urban Pathways back in 2008.

Vallone claims that the community is already barren enough, and lacks the supermarkets, banks and reliable public transportation that exist throughout the rest of Astoria. He says to place a homeless shelter in the area would only further burden the community.

"We can’t sustain the additional strain of a 50-unit development for homeless people with special needs," Vallone told The Queens Gazette. "Astoria’s waterfront is one of the most beautiful stretches in the five boroughs; we should be helping our existing residents with more facilities rather than using state funds for a new development that will only hinder the community."

Vallone and Astoria Houses residents expressed opposition roughly three years ago by writing to then Governor David Paterson and state Department of Mental Health Commissioner Michael Hogan, saying that these types of facilities usually house around a dozen people. The new Urban Pathways facility would house more than four-times that number of homeless New Yorkers.

Not to mention, Astoria’s waterfront area is already home to Goodwill Industries, Phoenix House, and several other nonprofit organizations that help homeless or mentally challenged individuals.

The opposition fell on deaf ears back then.

"We attempted to discuss a compromise with them -- a 15-person community-living residence similar to those that exist everywhere else in Queens -- but the state refused to even respond," Vallone said.

He's now hoping Governor Cuomo will take up the case.

“As the state prepares for massive layoffs, millions of dollars are now being used for a massive unwanted project consisting of 50 individual units in a struggling neighborhood."

Tags: YASA, astoria houses, goodwill, homeless, mentally challenged, phoenix house, vallone

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Comment by Arthur Vincie on February 17, 2012 at 5:22pm: The "individual who went off their meds and did this or that" is not a valid argument. I can cite incidents among my [so called normal] friends of insulin shock, fighting, emotional breakdowns, etc. ... any number of people on any given day do irrational, perhaps even violent, things. Statistically, as a group, people with mental illness are no more likely than any other group to commit violent acts against others (the suicide rate is higher but the statistics are harder to make sense of. In some cases, people are self-medicating and/or have drug addictions which lead to overdoses, so are they suicides? Hard to tell). What many people with mental illness have in common is that they're subjected to incredible systemic bigotry - from the NIMBY crowd, to insurance companies, landlords, etc. Insurance companies are really stingy when it comes to mental health coverage. And try living on SSDI (short answer: you can't, not in NYC). Just trying to navigate the different social service agencies to get any kind of help is a major nightmare. What I see on this board sounds like the opinions I heard among my more racist Irish relatives when I was growing up ('oh, you know when those people move in it's time to move out')... have some compassion folks. Fifty units is nothing. That's not going to blot out the sky or turn the park into some kind of den of inequity and skullduggery. And we have plenty of higher-end housing in this hood. The food desert, flooding and transportation issues are real concerns, but I'd rather the housing be built than not. [Steps off soapbox.] [NOTE: published this earlier, deleted it and fixed some grammatical errors.]

Comment by Katherine on February 17, 2012 at 1:38pm: I'll take this place over Astoria Projects any day!

Comment by Debbie Van Cura on February 17, 2012 at 12:19pm: It is interesting that what is not mentioned is that highrises of apartments are also planned for the same area. Are there supermarkets, banks, etc for that new development? I don't see any. While I do think smaller community living residences are more beneficial for the propsed residents, it does seem that the same concerns should be a reason to limit all development - not just for people you do not like.

Comment by Kate F. on February 17, 2012 at 12:10pm: @dave they did a presentation for us the other day because we all needed an update on their latest services. Such nice people.

Comment by Dave Shichman on February 17, 2012 at 12:08pm: Ageed, they do excellent work, and there is a location in Long Island City.

Comment by Kate F. on February 17, 2012 at 12:06pm: Fortune Society does some excellent work with ex-"offenders" but the housing sites are few and far between. I love the Fortune Society!

Comment by Dave Shichman on February 17, 2012 at 12:04pm: @kate F... I'm a social worker who mainly does entitlement work and homeless prevention (along with running a food pantry, a support group for fathers of special needs children, and a whole lot more), so i have alot of experience with NYNY3 as well as the other housing programs. I'm always advocating for more services for this population, they REALLY need it. I'm seem tremendous progress in people using the "housing first" model, its impossible to get your life together, a job, benefits, even your health in order if you do not have a safe, appropriate place to live.

@Tom Greco, you are confusing programs. Pheonix House is for people with substance abuse issues, NYNY3 has a component for that, but the main thrust of the program is mental health, other have done a great job explaining why it should not an issues as you expect it to be. This has nothing to do with ex-cons, although there is a population that really needs more housing options, they cant even live in NYCHA (public housing).

Comment by Kate F. on February 17, 2012 at 11:58am: @daveschiman, I'm so with you!! BTW, if anyone is interested in getting together and working on this issue, I'd love to get more involved in local activism. And, as you correctly note, NY/NY housing applications are a very tedious process. I've filled out probably a 100 since I entered this career. There are 4 levels of housing, level 1 is for those that are pretty self sufficient, level 4 for those that need heavy med monitoring and help getting to appointments in the community. It's not like people are placed all willy nilly without their needs and the community's safety issues being taken into account.

Comment by Kate F. on February 17, 2012 at 11:51am: @doranyc I am by no means a saint. I love the work I do but I certainly have my days. NIMBY stuff is very offensive to me. You are correct in saying that 1-2% of those with SERIOUS and PERSISTENT metal illnesses (basically on the psychotic spectrum of which most people with bipolar never reach) are violent. I've worked with mostly people with psychosis over the course my years doing this work. First in the field, then at Bellevue Hospital, and now at a community health center where I provide MH therapy. Many of my coworkers, some doctors, have a major depressive or bipolar diagnosis. People who are TREATED with appropriate medication and therapy are no different than the rest of us, other than they have an illness (like diabetes, which is controllable), I'm OUTRAGED by the bigotry towards those with mental illnesses. I'm also outraged by the ignorance of those that do not education themselves on the spectrum of mental illness. And also who haven't done their research. These community homes, especially those run by Urban Pathways or Camba, are excellent at what they do. They monitor behavior very closely and if someone needs a higher level of care (usually for THEIR safety, not ours) they will quickly be transferred to another facility. I would like to say that I've heard Astorians grumble because a homeless and psychotic person is saying insane stuff on the subway. Is it annoying at the end of a long day? yes. But that annoyance is due to the fact that there aren't enough homes like Urban Pathways to house those who will never be able to work and lack any family resources. Also, if you notice, even those people saying menacing stuff are talking to themselves. It's very rare that they would do anything to another person, even if they appear they are speaking to them.

//end rant

Comment by Doranyc on February 17, 2012 at 11:33am: Kate F - you are saint and keep up the good work. It is a fact that the mentally ill rarely become violent, what's the statistic again? - I think less than 2% of the severally mentally ill have violent tendencies. We can all talk until we are blue in the face about how we know of this person or that person who became violent, sure it happens. In my experience, this fun fact has been a much greater reality - Bipolar disorder has a higher death rate than most cancers because of accidental and purposeful suicide. Again, it is a fact that the harm to themselves is a much greater risk. The point is, housing like this creates stability for people. This is exactly the kind of project that curbs violent tendencies in the seriously mentally ill, who are, again, the minority.