UPPER WEST SIDE, Manhattan (PIX11) — Mayor Eric Adams has been saying it over and over again: New York City is in a humanitarian crisis, desperately trying to provide enough beds for all the homeless men, women and children in the city.
But a group of Upper West Side residents is upset about a planned shelter next to a playground.
“Anyone framing us as anti-homeless or NIMBY is intentionally misrepresenting our cause,” Heather Groeger, a parent organizer at the playground, told PIX11 News on Sunday.
She said she does not want her 7-year-old son playing in the Ederle playground on West 59th Street near West End Avenue next to a planned homeless shelter for 200 women with possible mental health and substance abuse issues.
She is particularly concerned about cigarette smoking right by where the children attend movie night.
“To place a smoking lounge next to a playground is unsafe — two smoking lounges,” Groeger told PIX11 News. “Exposing children to secondhand smoke.”
Some parents have circulated a petition to stop the construction with more than 2,000 signatures so far. They have also hired a lawyer.
“I have just drafted legislation, and I’m hoping the City Council member will make sure that homeless shelter can never be built next to a playground,” Brad Gerstman, a lawyer for Ederle Playground parents, told PIX11 News.
But with the homeless population in New York City exceeding 100,000, a spokeswoman for the New York City Department of Social Services, Neha Sharma, told Pix11 News:
Working together with our not-for-profit provider-partner Project Renewal, we’re confident that these New Yorkers, who deserve the same dignity and compassion as stably-housed community members and every other New Yorker, will be warmly welcomed, as we work to make this the best experience for all.
New York City Department of Social Services Spokesperson
And one advocate for people experiencing homelessness through the Open Hearts Initiative, who also lives in the neighborhood, said he welcomes the shelter.
“The homelessness crisis is real,” Bennett Reinhardt, Advocacy Coordinator for the Open Hearts Initiative, told PIX11 News. “The neighborhood on the Upper West Side has an ample ability to help the most vulnerable of the city.”
