China News Service, May 1. According to the US "World Journal" report, the New York City government's move to continuously open homeless shelters around Manhattan's Chinatown was strongly opposed by the community. After continuous protests, the city government finally announced. Cancel the addition of the homeless house at 47 Madison St.; however, compared with 91 East Broadway and other homeless houses, this place is smaller in scale. Chinese residents and businesses have said recently, "It's not a good idea to change soup." Change the medicine and fight a protracted battle."
The city said it would cancel the opening of a 50-person homeless shelter at 47 Medison Street to demonstrate a concession to the complaints of the Chinatown community; the DHS said it had inspected the construction of the Chinatown homeless shelter on site. After the settlement, it was decided to relocate the homeless shelter at No. 47 to a less serviced community.
"Our goal has always been to work with communities to understand their needs, distribute homeless sites equitably, and prioritize sites that can be brought into use in a timely manner to serve New York City's most vulnerable populations," a Homeless Bureau spokesperson said.
Since March 2021, Chinatown has been covered by four new homeless programs, including 349 Kennedy Road, 91 East Broadway, 47 Madison Street and 231 Glen Street.
The city and Manhattan's 3rd District Board, which oversees 47 Madison Street, say the neighborhood needs more "safe havens"; the 3rd District Board said in its annual statement of needs to the city that over the years There has been a constant request for more resettlement places in the community and this request has been made a top priority of the budget.
But opposition in Chinatown has been persistent and loud for months, with at least a dozen protests and rallies so far, including a community meeting with the Homeless Bureau in February.
Susan Lee, a committee member of the Alliance for Community Preservation and Betterment, said the miscarriage at 47 Medison heralded "a step in the right direction".
However, the surrounding people are not very optimistic about this. The Chinatown Commercial Reform District office is located at No. 49 Medison Street, which is connected to No. 47; CEO Chen Zuozhou said that when the city government intends to build a homeless place, the office must be moved this summer. But now he'd rather endure the trouble of moving in exchange for the city's cancellation of East Broadway or Glen Street homeless places.
"One of the two sites is for homeless people with mental illness, the other is for homeless people who abuse drugs, and they are located in the main traffic lanes of Chinatown, so the negative impact on the community is too great; and No. 49 Madison not only occupies a small area, but also has a relatively one-way street. Quiet and relatively low impact." Chen Zuozhou said.
According to the plan, the Grand Street Homeless Center will open in May this year, and the East Broadway Homeless Center is also expected to open next year; the community rights protection group said, "It will take a long battle to change the soup or not." (Zhang Chen)