Can homeless shelter and a rec center co-exist?

We are trying to gauge community support for the proposal to convert the homeless men's shelter at the Bedford-Armory into an intake-recreation center. What do you think? Would you use the rec? Would you send your kids?

Weigh in: http://nostrandpark.com/2010/02/05/can-an-intake-center-and-a-recreation-center-coexist/

If people only knew how many criminals are staying in that shelter, ranging from murderers to registered sex offenders this rec center idea wouldnt even be a thought.

Not that I would use it, but the concept is not unique. The armory in washigton heights was like that many years ago and used to house PSAL track meets. It has since been renovated into a worldclass venue. I think the homeles folks are still there, but in a different part of the building.

I think the question is not whether a shelter and a rec center can co-exist - clearly the cases of Park Slope and Washington Heights demonstrate that they can. In Park Slope, for instance, you have a rec center successfully collocated with a 70 bed shelter serving 150 women per year. The question is whether it makes sense to collocate a rec center with what could end up being the city's only INTAKE center for homeless men - a facility that could provide up to 400 beds and serve over 14,000 men per year. Not to mention the larger question of whether it is fair to locate an intake center in the already over-burdened areas of Bed-Stuy and North Crown Heights. And not to mention whether doing so will make emergency shelter services adequately accessible to homeless men - the majority of whom spend their time in Manhattan.