New Housing For Homeless Proves Divisive

A planned supportive housing project on the Upper West Side is dividing the community, with some concerned that the introduction of homeless residents with severe mental disabilities will pose a danger.

A nonprofit developer, the Lantern Group, is converting a commercial single room occupancy building on West 94th Street, St. Louis Hall, into affordable housing units. At issue are 60 units of housing that are designated for mentally ill residents referred by the Department of Homeless Services under the New York/New York III program. The program funds housing for the chronically homeless, people who suffer from severe mental disorders, and recovering substance abusers.

"What they're trying to do is mainstream people who not only have mental illness problems they describe as severe, but who also have an interaction with crime, a drug problem, or an alcohol problem," the president of a community group, Neighborhood in the 90s, Aaron Biller, said. He said he has collected more than 900 signatures on a petition opposing the project.

Mr. Biller said the project is part of a larger problem: that the Upper West Side shoulders a disproportionate share of the city's supportive housing burden.

The neighborhood's 11 housing projects put it on par with some others, such as Chelsea, but the Upper East Side, on the other hand, hosts only two. While the community board has approved the project, some residents are discussing bringing a lawsuit alleging that the projects violate the city's charter, which calls for housing projects to be widely dispersed.

A spokesman for the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, which is helping fund the St. Louis Hall project, rejected the assertion that these projects were a burden.

"The way they're talking about it, it's as if a trash generator is being brought to their neighborhood," the spokesman, Neill Coleman, said. "I would contest that it's an advantage." He said housing programs converted "eyesores" such as the St. Louis into well-regulated buildings, making neighborhoods safer. "I know there are some people nearby who don't like the idea, but broadly the local neighborhoods and the community board are being supportive," he added.

The district's City Council member, Gale Brewer, said yesterday that she supports the project, but wants 24-hour support services and careful screening of mentally ill residents to ensure they do not pose a danger. Ms. Brewer said the Upper West Side's large share of supportive housing stemmed more from its building types than from a lack of fairness.

"If you look at the housing stock, it's been like this forever," Ms. Brewer said. "The East Side has a lot more big apartment buildings. We've always had SROs."