Clean Up the 30th Street Men's Shelter and Mainchance Drop-In Center (32nd Street) issues in District 2!

The Issue

Our community is under siege by aggressive, lewd and dangerous men from the two shelters in the area: The 30th Street Men's Shelter and the Mainchance Drop-In Center on 32nd between Lexington and Park.

We are asking for:

1. Reducing the size of the 30th Street Men's Shelter to 200 or 250 beds, which is consistent with the rest of the Men's shelters in NYC.

2. Forbidding the admittance of any man who has been charged with any sexual offense, past or present, and any other violent crimes.

3. In conjunction with 2 above, closing the loophole that allows a sex offender who is no longer on parole to reside in a shelter within a 1000 foot radius of the schools

4. Close down the Mainchance In-Take Center. It is poorly run, has no regard for the community, and has created a radius of crime 5 blocks wide around it.

5. Add "beat cops" to our neighborhood! We respect the police officers protecting us and need them on the streets to deter harassment, public lewdness, public intoxication, setting up camps on streets, and engaging in drug activity.

The shelters are no longer being used for what they were intended and named for. They no longer provide a safe haven for men, women and children displaced by loss of work, tragic circumstances, poverty, mental illness or other unintentional consequences of circumstance.

Instead they are being used as a gateway for ex-convicts, sex offenders and mentally disturbed men to enter neighborhoods and commit crimes against the community. It is a disservice to the people who need to be "sheltered" and given an opportunity to rejoin the community.

These men have contributed to our community with these criminal acts:
1. Rape
2. Robberies
3. Verbal harassment of women and children
4. Assault and violence against members of our community
5. Loitering and panhandling by schools
6. Approaching children, sometimes by name and offering candy
7. Many instances of public masturbation and lewdness
8. Sleeping in doorways, building courtyards, streets, etc.
9. Defecating in public

Please support us in reducing crime, making our city cleaner and safer, and providing true help to those in need by signing this petition.

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This petition had 1,684 supporters

The Issue

Our community is under siege by aggressive, lewd and dangerous men from the two shelters in the area: The 30th Street Men's Shelter and the Mainchance Drop-In Center on 32nd between Lexington and Park.

We are asking for:

1. Reducing the size of the 30th Street Men's Shelter to 200 or 250 beds, which is consistent with the rest of the Men's shelters in NYC.

2. Forbidding the admittance of any man who has been charged with any sexual offense, past or present, and any other violent crimes.

3. In conjunction with 2 above, closing the loophole that allows a sex offender who is no longer on parole to reside in a shelter within a 1000 foot radius of the schools

4. Close down the Mainchance In-Take Center. It is poorly run, has no regard for the community, and has created a radius of crime 5 blocks wide around it.

5. Add "beat cops" to our neighborhood! We respect the police officers protecting us and need them on the streets to deter harassment, public lewdness, public intoxication, setting up camps on streets, and engaging in drug activity.

The shelters are no longer being used for what they were intended and named for. They no longer provide a safe haven for men, women and children displaced by loss of work, tragic circumstances, poverty, mental illness or other unintentional consequences of circumstance.

Instead they are being used as a gateway for ex-convicts, sex offenders and mentally disturbed men to enter neighborhoods and commit crimes against the community. It is a disservice to the people who need to be "sheltered" and given an opportunity to rejoin the community.

These men have contributed to our community with these criminal acts:
1. Rape
2. Robberies
3. Verbal harassment of women and children
4. Assault and violence against members of our community
5. Loitering and panhandling by schools
6. Approaching children, sometimes by name and offering candy
7. Many instances of public masturbation and lewdness
8. Sleeping in doorways, building courtyards, streets, etc.
9. Defecating in public

Please support us in reducing crime, making our city cleaner and safer, and providing true help to those in need by signing this petition.

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The Decision Makers

Mayor Bill de Blasio
Mayor Bill de Blasio
Mayor of New York City
Responded
“Response from Department of Homeless Services Commissioner Gilbert Taylor: We have heard the concerns of Kips Bay residents, and we want you to know that we are listening and acting. Despite the misreporting in the New York Post, in light of the horrific Rodney Stover incident, all 17 sex offenders previously at the 30th St. men’s shelter have been moved from this facility, and we are no longer housing residents with sex offenders status at this location – this happened within days of the incident. New York City’s Department of Homeless Services has a legal mandate and moral obligation to shelter all those who need it, and we don’t take this responsibility lightly. We are committed to both reducing homelessness and improving the lives of those throughout our shelter system, and we work to ensure that families and individuals with nowhere else to turn have somewhere to go as they rebuild their lives. The 30th Street shelter has been part of the Kips Bay community for over the past 30 years without any major incidents. Over the years, this 850-bed shelter has served tens of thousands of New Yorkers in need, and it plays a critical in the Manhattan homeless shelter system. Since the Stover incident, however, we have heard a number of concerns from the Kips Bay community, and we take them very seriously. Over the past few weeks, the City’s Department of Homeless Services (DHS) has had a number of meetings with the Community Board, area residents, and elected officials in recent weeks about the possibility of enhancing security in the area surrounding the shelter. As a result of those conversations, DHS is performing joint assessments with the NYPD and has increased joint patrolling with the 13th Precinct in that area, and we are currently in discussions with the NYPD, the City’s Department of Probation, the City’s Department of Corrections, and the Mayor's Office of Criminal Justice about security and service needs at the 30th St. Shelter. Simultaneously, DHS has created a Community Advisory Board for the Mainchance Drop-in Center, and is targeting homeless hotspots around East 32nd St. with our street outreach team, to engage homeless New Yorkers found on the streets, and offer them appropriate services. With respect to the sheltering of individuals with sex offender history, the City is going above and beyond existing State requirements by placing all homeless individuals in the sex offender State registry in facilities over 1000 feet away from schools and facilities primarily devoted to child care, regardless of their residency requirement. This means no sex offenders will be placed at the 30th St Shelter. We continue to coordinate with the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) as they release sex offenders to ensure that there are alternate shelter options for them until the City has space for them at one of our compliant sites. We are committed to continuing to address the community's concerns while supporting our clients as they rebuild their lives. If you would like to comment or reach out to DHS, we encourage you to reach out at 212-361-8000. ”
Andrew M. Cuomo
Andrew M. Cuomo
Former Governor - New York

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Petition created on May 23, 2015