Protest against proposed homeless shelter held at Brannan HQ

Sources: ‘It will be for homeless veterans’

February 5, 2024 Wayne Daren Schneiderman

Protesters gather outside of Councilman Justin Brannan’s office Wednesday afternoon.
Photos: Wayne Daren Schneiderman/Brooklyn Eagle

Share this:

Chants of “no shelter” and “Bay Ridge matters” reverberated through megaphones down the streets of Third Avenue and 82nd Street as a sizeable crowd of community members clamored outside of Councilmember Justin Brannan’s office Wednesday afternoon protesting the proposed building of a homeless shelter.

It was the second demonstration of its kind this month.

However, sources say that the shelter, which would be the first in the district, will be for “currently employed, homeless veterans,” and is slated to be located at 6530 Fourth Ave. and built by the Department of Social Services.

“We are trying to get Justin [Brannan] to come out and tell us anything; we’ve heard nothing from him directly,” said a protester, who only referred to himself as Victor.

Residents protest the proposed building of a homeless shelter.

“I’m a resident of the Bay Ridge Towers, like more than half of these people, which is right by the proposed area, and everyone I spoke to is entirely against this. It’s a perfect spot to put any other sort of development — low income housing would be just fine.

“Many are claiming, including Brannan, that this will be a shelter for veterans, but have provided absolutely no evidence towards that.”

Attorney Daniel Luisi, who also attended the protest, said that he is certain there is a better location to build — “one that doesn’t have an elementary school one block away and a high school in the other direction,” he explained.

The shelter is slated to be located at 6530 Fourth Ave., and built by the Department of Social Services.

The Brooklyn Eagle managed to snare a statement from Brannan in which the councilmember said that he does not believe 6530 Fourth Ave. is a good spot to build anything.

“From a policy standpoint, I don’t agree with building new shelters if and when we have the opportunity to build more housing.

“If the city is knocking down an existing structure to build something new, why wouldn’t we build affordable housing instead? Endlessly building homeless shelters won’t fix our homelessness crisis. These shelters will continue to fill up if we’re not doing everything we can to get families out of shelter and back on their own two feet with a roof over their heads.”

The proposed shelter, which was announced in November of last year, is expected to open in late 2024. — The proposed shelter, which was announced in November of last year, is expected to open in late 2025.

However, Brannan pointed out that he would never oppose a shelter for homeless veterans.

“These brave souls put their lives on the line to defend our country, and now they’ve fallen on hard times. They should be welcomed with open arms, not angry protests and conspiracy theories.”

The proposed shelter, which was announced in November of last year, is expected to open in late 2025. It will be operated by not-for-profit organization Volunteers of America, an anti-poverty organization with a 125-year history of serving people in need.