BENSONHURST — A GROUP OF REPUBLICAN LAWMAKERS PROTEST a planned men’s homeless shelter on 86th Street the day after Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration announced it is moving 250 men from a shelter at Manhattan’s Bellevue Hospital to Brooklyn, according to a press release issued Friday, March 20.
State Sen. Steve Chan, R-17 , Assemblymember Lester Chang, R-49, and Congressmember Nicole Malliotakis, R-11, who all represent portions of southwestern Brooklyn, have joined forces in a continuing effort to fight the construction of homeless shelters and any development of the type against the wishes of the residents. Chang and Chan introduced a pair of bills in the state legislature to prohibit the opening of any homeless shelter within 500 feet (about two city blocks) from a transit facility.
Assemblymember William Colton, D-47, who represents the immediate area where the shelter at 86th Street and 25th Avenue would be built, also introduced a bill this week that would prohibit such facilities except those operated by houses of worship. Colton’s bill includes churches and schools in the area embargoed to homeless shelters. Colton and Councilmember Susan Zhuang, D-43, have been vocal opponents of the shelter since it was first proposed in 2022.
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