Letter in Support of 105 Washington St Safe Haven
June 14, 2024
Dear Council Member Marte:
As Lower Manhattan community members who live, work, and go to school in your district, we offer our strong support for the new Safe Haven planned for 105 Washington St. New Yorkers in every community should welcome an opportunity to help solve our longstanding homelessness crisis, and we are excited to have a Safe Haven in the Financial District–a crucial resource that our neighborhood currently lacks. This Safe Haven, which will be run by experienced provider CUCS, will eventually provide 84 beds for unsheltered neighbors, alongside a robust array of on-site services. These services will include on-site psychiatric and primary care, case management, and indoor and outdoor common areas.
Homelessness can happen to anyone. It is not a personal failing, and it does not make someone any less likely to be a good neighbor. Many of us have gotten to know folks in our community who are experiencing homelessness. We’ve shared food and coffee, talked about sports and books, taken walks together, and shared in the joys and hardships of each other’s lives. Just as the presence of any neighbor offers a chance to build connection–even if just by smiling at each other on the street–so too does the presence of neighbors who happen to be experiencing homelessness.
Some folks have been asking “why here?” with regard to this Safe Haven. Much of the rhetoric around the Safe Haven relies on an unspoken assumption: that some neighborhoods are appropriate locations for housing and services for folks experiencing homelessness, and that the Financial District is not one of them. We ask: why not here? The Financial District is a high-opportunity, amenity-rich neighborhood, with lots of cultural sites, jobs, and excellent public transit access. It’s an ideal place for people to get back on their feet, for the same reasons that many of us chose to live here. Currently, Manhattan Community Board 1 hosts less than 1% of the city’s Department of Homeless Services (DHS) shelter population. We can and must do more to support homeless neighbors, and the presence of a Safe Haven is something that will benefit all of us, including those of us who are housed. Regardless, the Financial District is not a gated community; no one has a right to decide that a certain “type” of person is unwelcome in this neighborhood.
We have also heard concerns from some individuals who are worried about the “low-barrier” approach that the Safe Haven takes. In fact, this model is one of the key reasons why we believe this site will be effective at assisting individuals in need, and an asset to our community. As the Coalition for the Homeless has documented, many aspects of the traditional shelter system can deter some folks on the streets from coming inside, from the lengthy process, to the lack of privacy and the dehumanizing restrictions. This Safe Haven will offer private rooms, direct placement by street outreach teams, fewer onerous restrictions, and robust services on site–all of which make it significantly more appealing to individuals who have hesitated to enter traditional shelters. (Indeed, the city’s own data on the outcomes of end-of-line subway outreach shows that while just 24% of those placed in traditional shelters stayed there long-term, 63% of individuals offered Safe Haven beds stayed there long-term.) The Safe Haven will be an essential resource for neighbors experiencing homelessness. Attempting to block the Safe Haven or make it more restrictive will not make our neighbors who are on the streets disappear; it will simply leave them on the streets with less access to resources.
Finally, a common concern we have heard is that this Safe Haven is close to several schools. Those of us who are parents care deeply about our children’s well-being and safety. Having a shelter in our neighborhood is an opportunity to help our children develop empathy and caring. We would rather explain to our children that our community is welcoming people who need homes than explain that we are leaving people to sleep unsheltered because our city of wealth cannot be moved to help them. Further, the data does not support the claim that proximity to a Safe Haven, or to any type of shelter or transitional housing, puts children at risk. There are schools and children–and people in need–in every neighborhood of the city. Helping to meet people’s needs by providing housing and robust services is what investing in true community safety looks like. And for many of our children, homelessness is already a daily reality: 1 in 9 New York City public school students experienced homelessness in the last school year. It saddens us to think about how they must feel when they hear neighbors decrying the risk that people experiencing homelessness supposedly pose to our children.
We look forward to working together to welcome neighbors to this Safe Haven in the coming months, and we hope we can count on your strong and vocal support for having this crucial resource in our neighborhood.
Sincerely,
Amy Murray, works in CD1 and parent of Pace University student
John Licht, works in 10280, public school educator
Amanda Fialk, parent of child attending school in CD1
Sonni Mun, 10038 resident, parent of Stuyvesant High School student
Judith Ackerman, parent of child attending school in CD1
Brian Hoberman, works in 10007
Tom Batson, works at Trinity Church Wall Street Philanthropies in CD1
Maryanne Braverman, 10280 resident
Jane Sujen Bock, 10280 resident
Tuhfa Begum, NYU student in 10002
Jess Coleman, 10007 resident, Community Board 1 member
Amanda Ramsdell, works in 10038
Pat Daly, 10280 resident
Mahirah Billah, works in 10280
Emily Cohen, 10038 resident
Will Rothschild, 10012 resident
Allison Mandeville, works in 10005
Hetty Chang, 10005 resident
Echo Hertzberg, works in 10280
John Chow, 10280 resident, parent of PS234, PS89, and Stuyvesant alumni
Justine Cuccia, 10280 resident
Marieke Bender, works in 10280
Sam Gerstle, NYU student in 10012
Blair Rainsford, works in 10012
Vedant Mehra, 10280 resident and parent