Richmond Hill community objects to facility set to be built on Jamaica Ave.
By Kristen Guglielmo
Dozens of Richmond Hill residents poured onto Jamaica Avenue on June 18 to say exactly what they think of a planned homeless shelter in their neighborhood: “Not here.”
The rally, organized by Community Board 9, drew a diverse crowd of parents, business owners, religious leaders, civic association representatives and elected officials, all united in opposition to a five-story men’s shelter at 118-08 Jamaica Ave.
The facility is slated to open in mid-2027, according to the Department of Social Services.
The agency said the 127-bed transitional housing center will be operated by VIP Community Services and offer on-site case management, counseling, housing placement assistance, medical and mental health services, employment support and life-skills programming.
The DSS told the Chronicle the facility will have 24-hour on-site security, including cameras throughout the property, community patrols by security staff and a community advisory board to address neighborhood concerns.
The facility also would be the first traditional Department of Homeless Services shelter within the council district, the DSS said, and is intended to expand the city’s “equitable shelter siting” approach by distributing homeless services more evenly across the five boroughs.
According to the city Department of Buildings website, multiple work permits for the shelter were approved on May 14. Gunnveet Sandhu is listed as the owner behind the applications.
The DHS and DSS had been expected to answer for the shelter proposal at a public hearing on June 4 but canceled, saying they needed more time to prepare, according to board leadership. That cancellation was the catalyst for the rally.
District Manager James McClelland made clear that the goal is accountability, not simply opposition.
“This rally is more or less not just to oppose this, but to demand that the Department of Homeless Services and the Department of Social Services stand before this community, answer the tough questions and listen to our concerns like they should have done last week on June 4,” McClelland said.
Councilmember Lynn Schulman (D-Forest Hills), who was among the rally’s attendees, said she also had not been briefed on the shelter.
“When I first ran for office, I ran saying that we had a government from the bottom up, meaning the community has to have a say,” Schulman said. “The community hasn’t had any say in this.”
Assemblymember David Weprin (D-Fresh Meadows) echoed Schulman’s concerns and made clear that the opposition is rooted in location, not principle.
“Addressing homelessness requires thoughtful and careful planning, and strong partnerships at all levels of community and government,” Weprin said. “We recognize the importance of expanding access to supporting housing and shelter.”
But the Jamaica Avenue site, he said, is simply the wrong choice.
“The facility would be situated in the middle of a concentrated school zone,” Weprin said. “The presence of multiple schools makes this location uniquely sensitive and warrants careful reconsideration.”
State Sen. Joe Addabbo Jr. (D-Woodhaven) leaned into the crowd’s frustration — and channeled it.
“While we are sympathetic to the homeless, this is what happens when we’re left in the dark,” Addabbo said. “This is what happens when our community doesn’t get answers on what’s going to happen. This is what happens when we don’t have input. … Our voices will be heard, our concerns will be met, and we will not stop.”
Addabbo said he had visited a nearby business before the rally and found the owner deeply rattled. “I went to the Classic Diner. They are petrified. Why? Because they’re in the dark,” he said. “Before any shovel hits the ground here — if any shovel hits the ground here — we will have answers.”
Paul Trust, speaking on behalf of the Richmond Hill Block Association and as a father of three daughters who attended the nearby schools, described the Jamaica Avenue commercial strip as a community trying to improve itself.
“This is a business district that is trying to lift itself up, and I feel like this is just an example of a card stacked against it,” Trust said.
He also said he had spoken to residents near another men’s shelter in the area and heard troubling accounts.
“They said there’s concerns about crime over there, there’s a lot of loitering, there’s catcalls to young girls,” Trust said, noting that Richmond Hill High School is nearby. “We already have safety concerns, and this just concerns me that it’s just going to make it that much worse.”
Rossella Muto, whose family has operated the nearby Alfie’s Pizza for more than 50 years, described a daily struggle with homeless individuals that she said has grown worse over the past decade. She said she tries to help, but acknowledged the limits of what one business can absorb.
“When it gets to a certain level where you have to protect the people in your store and yourself, then that’s a different story,” Muto said. “I have friends of mine who live in Glendale, by a shelter. They don’t like it either, and they tell me they go through horror stories every single day. … This cannot happen. Not in this neighborhood.”
Carina Nieves-Snow, the parent coordinator at PS 51 — the school closest to the proposed shelter site — said families had already come to her with concerns about homeless people along Jamaica Avenue.
“We know that these shelters allow these individuals to roam the streets during the day,” Nieves-Snow said.
Faith leaders added their voices to the chorus. Rabbi Daniel Pollack said the community should have more input.
“A community should have a choice and a decision and input to make what’s best for the lives of their children, and for their parents, and for the school, and everyone who is connected with the community,” Pollack said. “It should not be thrust upon us.”
Helen Day, president of the Richmond Hill Historical Society, said, “They have come with this not as a proposal, but as a done deal, and they want to force us to accept this as they have done in other communities. We don’t like that. We are going to protest it.”
Board leadership said the fight is not over.
“We’re going to have a public hearing in September,” CB 9 Chair Sherry Algredo said. “We are not going to give up.”
In a statement provided to the Chronicle after the rally, a spokesperson for the DSS said, “As we continue to transform the shelter system — closing substandard sites and opening new, high-quality facilities across the five boroughs — our focus lies squarely on improving the services we provide and ensuring that every community has the requisite safety net resources to support their neighbors in need.”
The agency said it remains committed to working with the community and prioritizing the safety of residents, staff and neighbors.
The DSS also pushed back against suggestions that people experiencing homelessness pose an inherent threat to the surrounding community, saying most shelter residents are individuals facing financial hardship, many of them working or seeking employment while trying to secure permanent housing.