Gravesend Residents Continue Protest Against Planned Homeless Shelter

By Adam Daly, Brooklyn Paper

Opponents of a proposed homeless shelter in Gravesend vowed to take their protests to Mayor Eric Adams’ residence at Gracie Mansion if their demands to scrap the plans are not met, as they enter their 41st consecutive day of demonstrations at the site on 25th Avenue and 86th Street.

Local residents have been monitoring the site since construction stalled following a July 17 confrontation between protesters and police, which resulted in the arrest of several southern Brooklyn residents, including Council Member Susan Zhuang, who was charged with assault for allegedly biting a police officer during the protest.

Zhuang claimed she was helping an 81-year-old woman stuck under a police barricade during the protest and repeatedly asked officers for assistance. Video shows officers trying to lift the barricade as they struggled to handcuff Zhuang. The NYPD alleged Zhuang blocked officers from aiding the woman, shoved the barricade against them, and bit an officer, breaking the skin. Zhuang was charged with multiple offenses, including assault and resisting arrest. She pleaded not guilty in Brooklyn Criminal Court and was released without bail, with a court date set for October.

Assembly Member William Colton, who has led several protests against the Gravesend site, largely due to its location near schools, daycares, and senior facilities, said the events that day were a “disgrace” and accused the NYPD of acting as “private security” at the site that morning.

Speaking to Brooklyn Paper after an August 21 rally outside the planned site, Colton said he is still an ardent supporter of the police, but that the “terrible disaster” of July 17 had set back local relations with law enforcement “tremendously,” adding that it will take “years to repair the damage that was done.”

He also stood by the alleged actions of Zhuang.

“In Asian culture, protecting an elderly person is a very high principle. It’s a very high moral command,” he said. “And the council member was trying to protect an elderly woman who was down.”

‘This will never stop’
The facility on 86th Street, which is planned to be operated by Bronx-based VIP Community Services, is being developed by 86th Street NY LLC and could house up to 150 single men experiencing homelessness, including those with mental health challenges.

There are currently no shelters of any kind in Brooklyn Community District 11, where the 86th Street shelter is planned, according to the Department of Social Services.

According to city figures, approximately 87,000 people slept in city shelters on the night of August 22 — and more than 14,000 were single adult men. The city charter requires that services and facilities like shelters and libraries be equitably distributed across the city — but audits have showed some neighborhoods have a high concentration of shelters, while others, like CD11, have very few or none.

The Department of Social Services first notified residents of the planned shelter in November and said it remains committed to notifying communities at least 30 days before the potential opening of new traditional shelter locations.

To address local residents’ safety concerns, the agency said there will be on-site security around the clock, with a minimum of seven security staff per shift and a total of 74 security cameras throughout the building and across the shelter grounds.

The fallout from July 17 has led to a significant increase in support for the opposition to the shelter, with the teams of Assembly Member William Colton and Council Member Susan Zhuang registering about 3,000 new voters. According to Colton, the increase in voter registration is due to a distrust in the promises made by city officials.

Local merchants have also come out in opposition to the homeless shelter, with the stage backdrop at the August 21 rally displaying the names of businesses supporting the cause.

“Bay Parkway businesses will continue to support the community’s demand unwaveringly until the job is done,” said Paul Li, president of the Bay Parkway Chamber of Commerce.

According to Colton, a local restaurant has been providing 100 lunches daily to people stationed at the site “to make sure that the developer does not do anything he should not be doing.”

“They are very supportive because they know what it’s going to mean to them if this homeless shelter opens, and they don’t believe the promises of the city,” said Colton, who vowed that protests would continue both at the site and possibly at the mayor’s residence.

“There’s been talk about maybe taking some of the protest to where the developer lives, maybe taking some of the protest where the mayor lives. I don’t know if that’s New Jersey or Gracie Mansion,” he said. “This will never stop. This community is determined. And even if, God forbid, somehow they completed it and they tried to open it, the protests will still be going on.”

Colton previously led protests against a now-scrapped homeless shelter on Bath Avenue in 2021 — which was set to be built by the same developer behind the new 86th Street shelter, Tejpal Sandhu of The Sandhu Group. Sandhu purchased the site at 2501 86th Street in February 2023 for $4.8 million, and filed permits to build a 32-room hotel on the site last October.

Editor’s note: A version of this story originally ran in Brooklyn Paper. Click here to see the original story.

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