Bedford-Atlantic Armory Rally

Seems this thread has already dropped to a back page. Sorry to bring it up again. I agree with Daver and Boogie. I really have no problem with the objections. I guess what I'd like to see, and what I don't have time to organize myself, is a massive protest against unmonitored Capitalism and all of its ill effects. Barring a Utopian solution, though, I would love to see just a simple change. One intake center per borough. how hard could it be? Very, apparently.
Boogie, I'm glad you brought up the registered sex offenders among us. Before I read your post I was about to say that when I did a search of my old neighborhood, ten blocks away, on a government site, the results were stunning. I mean alarming. But again, this is the world in which we live and finding solutions seems to be the best answer. Getting them heard and implemented is a whole nother matter.

imho the validity of the opposition to the plan to bring the sole intake center for single homeless men to the bedford-atlantic armory boils down to 3 things:

1. crown heights is already oversaturated (compared to the rest of brooklyn) with social service beds, this fact wipes the nimby argument off the screen. the armory already occupies a disproportionate amount of the precinct's resources, adding to that stress could start undoing the progress that has been made in the past year with respect to public safety and limit the attention that might otherwise go to the areas of the precinct that are still under patrolled. bringing more men into a community that is already plagued by underemployment and street drug activity without providing any resources for them seems like a bad plan to me

2. this proposal fits squarely into an overall plan to "sanitize" manhattan at the expense of the other boroughs. communities that don't stand up for themselves are going to get trampled; this issue is as much about brooklyn as a whole as it is about crown heights. and remember, the same building that houses the current intake center is also home to 600+ men on a semi-permanent basis. when the building is demolished to make way for that luxury hotel what community is going to absorb those residents?

3. this is an AWFUL plan for the homeless, picture this scenario; it's a frigid January night, when typically 150 men come to the intake center to find a warm place to spend the night. imagine that these men, 60% of whom are already in Manhattan, now have to find their way to the Bedford-Atlantic Armory, carrying all their belongings and without access to transportation before they can begin the process of entering the shelter system. it simply doesn't make sense.

opposition to this plan includes the coalition for the homeless, the legal aid society, our community organizations (CHRM, CHNA, CHCA, CHUC, CB8, 77 Prec. Counc, etc) and all of our elected officials.

if you haven't done so already, please consider taking a moment to join the letter writing campaign: www.revitalizecrownheights.org. 450 letters of protest have been sent to the mayor to date - we are trying to get 1000 more to deliver in person to city hall, we have about 200 so far.
remember: your voice counts

Subject: RALLY 6/25 at 12:00 at City Hall

RALLY!
Wednesday, June 25th, at 12 PM
Steps of City Hall

Council Member Al Vann, Council Member Letitia James, Council Member Bill de Blasio along with Crown Heights Revitalization Movement (CHRM), Picture the Homeless, residents, advocates for the homeless, and public officials gather at City Hall to oppose DHS’ plan to move the men’s homeless intake center in Manhattan to the Bedford-Atlantic Armory in Brooklyn

A press conference to support the homeless and the community will be held on the steps of City Hall on Wednesday, June 25th at 12 PM, which will include advocates, homeless persons, service providers, community residents and elected officials. The Stated Council Meeting follows the rally at 1:30 PM.

Council Members Albert Vann, Council Member Letitia James, and Council Member Bill de Blasio will introduce a resolution at the Stated Council Meeting, calling on the Mayor to halt the Department of Homeless Service's plan to close the Manhattan central intake center for homeless men and transfer its functions to the Brooklyn Bedford-Atlantic Armory.

Please attend the press conference, and share this information with groups and persons who are interested in fighting this action.

Contact:

Dottie Conway, Office of Council Member Vann / (212) 788-7354, or Amyre Loomis, Office of Council Member James / (718) 260 -9191

Another rally held in the middle of a workday? These organizers seems determined to minimize turnout.

I know a lot of people from my block are going to make it to this one. Folks in my neck of the woods (pretty near the armory) really seem to be starting to mobilize around this issue. I think folks are getting that a lot of the other issues we care about, and discuss on our block (litter, noise, crime, success of new restaurants, etc.) will all be affected by the City's plan, if it is allowed to go through. Nobody knows to what extent, but we could be talking about as many as 250 men A DAY killing time around the armory - in addition to those already there. Not sure where they'd go, but places like Franklin Avenue and Brower Park seem like obvious choices. If you think this is a bad plan, for any reason (and there are a lot to choose from) I urge you to attend this rally if you can. Or the next one if you can't - I'm guessing there will be many more to come.