New York City must protect its homeless as well as its neighborhoods. Murray Hill has always been a NYC community of people who care about their neighbors, both those who are homeless and those who are more permanent residents. Many of us are active volunteers with various homeless organizations, and we are eager to work with the city to find long-term solutions to house the homeless.

On November 16, we heard through rumors that the DHS (the Department of Homeless Services) had declared that the Renwick Hotel at 118 East 40th Street would be added to a list of 15-plus other shelters already situated within the few blocks of Murray Hill. The plan is to add an additional 350 people to the neighborhood's already dense shelter population, An interactive map of where these shelters are located is on www.savemurrayhillnyc.org  

DHS provided false and misleading information to try and sway the public. Accurate “Fair Share” data, which is meant to be supplied by law, still has not been provided, and the DHS admitted to not including the 860-bed Bellevue men's shelter in its count of area shelters. The information and the process in which the community was allowed into the discussion was non-existent. We still have no assurances that the old hotel, built in the 1920s, is safe for full-time occupants. Please join us in protecting both our permanent and homeless residents.