Full Text: Open Letter from Upper East Siders to Eli Zabar

August 5, 2022

Dear Mr. Zabar:

As residents of the Upper East Side, we are appalled by your efforts to stall the construction of the Safe Haven planned for 419 East 91st Street. We represent a wide range of Upper East Siders who are deeply involved in our community: the signers of this letter include public school parents, tenant association members, clergy, local business owners, teachers, District Leaders, non-profit leaders and more. Many of us shop at your stores, and we are especially upset to learn that this money has been used to fund exclusionary attempts to keep homeless New Yorkers out of our neighborhood.

The Safe Haven planned for 419 E. 91st St will provide beds to 88 people experiencing homelessness. Safe Havens are low-barrier transitional housing sites that specifically serve people who are living on the streets. They are intended to encourage people to come inside who may have hesitated to enter other shelters: rather than entering the shelter system through a large and chaotic intake shelter, individuals are referred to a Safe Haven directly from the streets with the help of outreach workers. Safe Havens also typically provide a more private environment than a traditional shelter offers. This Safe Haven will provide residents with services including case management, primary care, social work and psychiatric services, and substance use  recovery. It will also include a recreational area and will be pet-friendly–a unique feature that will make it especially appealing to people who have had to choose between entering a shelter and keeping a beloved pet.

This project comes at a crucially important moment. With rents skyrocketing and evictions up, more New Yorkers are becoming homeless. Right now, thousands of New Yorkers are sleeping on the streets, and over 60,000 are living in the city’s various shelter systems. We can see this in our own neighborhood: many of us have gotten to know our homeless neighbors and learned their stories. No one wants to live on the streets, and if offered a place to go that provided privacy and dignity, our neighbors would take it. Unfortunately, many have not found privacy and dignity in traditional shelters, but that is the only option they continue to be offered, because there are not enough Safe Haven beds to meet the need. This project is not perfect, but it comes far closer to meeting the needs of many homeless New Yorkers than most traditional shelters do. It will undoubtedly save lives.

We strongly object to your decision to try to delay this life-saving project, instead of supporting our homeless neighbors. Your attempts to stall the Safe Haven through the courts have taken many forms, including refusing access to your property for construction purposes and attempting to limit who will live at the Safe Haven.

This project is an opportunity for us to live out our values by providing crucial support to neighbors in times of need. While tens of thousands of New Yorkers–nearly 90% of whom are Black and brown–rely on shelters across the city, Manhattan Community Board 8 (the Upper East Side) hosts less than 100 Department of Homeless Services (DHS) shelter beds, placing it among the community districts with the fewest shelter beds in the entire city. High-opportunity neighborhoods like ours are actually ideal places for people to get back on their feet, because they provide access to resources like public transit, parks, jobs, and more. Many of us in the neighborhood—which is home to multiple civic and religious organizations grounded in the values of kindness, inclusion and solidarity—are pleased to support solutions to the dire need for shelter in the city. We can and must do more as a neighborhood to support folks experiencing homelessness, and we do not want or need prominent community members undermining our vision for a more just and supportive Upper East Side.

Despite the bad-faith fear mongering about children’s safety that has surrounded this project, the data do not support the belief that living close to a shelter puts children at risk. Children live in every neighborhood of the city, and providing housing and services to homeless New Yorkers is a benefit to a neighborhood, not a danger. Our entire community is safer when everyone’s needs are met–and children’s sense of justice and service can be enriched by seeing us welcome individuals who have less than we do, and joining in to make them feel at home. 

Stopping this Safe Haven will not end homelessness or even make homelessness less visible on the Upper East Side–if anything, the lack of transitional housing options in the neighborhood that offer privacy and dignity mean that our neighbors on the streets will continue to struggle and face levels of insecurity that will make all of us less safe. We ask you to immediately stop your efforts to delay this Safe Haven, and join us in working to welcome and support homeless neighbors–because everyone deserves a place to call home.

Sincerely,

Open Hearts Initiative

Jessica Semmel, Ruppert Towers

Erica Bersin, Lenox Hill

Carl Garrison, Minister, Manhattan Church of Christ, E. 80th St.

Brett Slaughenhaupt, E. 99th St. and 3rd Ave.

Sophie Ellman-Golan, Yorkville

Willa Collins, E. 89th St. and 1st Ave.

Nana Evans, E. 90s

Kathryn O’Brien, E. 89th St. and 1st Ave.

Thea Gelbspan, SURJ-NYC member, Lenox Hill

Chelsea Evans, E. 78th St.

Jessica Luck, Yorkville

Hannah Providenti, Yorkville

Sal Migliaccio, staff member at Ali Forney Center, E. 78th St. and York Ave.

Daphne Prior, Unitarian Church of All Souls, E. 80s and York Ave.

Saundrea I. Coleman, M.Div, CB8 and Co-Founder of Holmes Isaacs Coalition, Yorkville

Rebecca Lamorte, former NYC Council candidate, E. 92nd St. and 2nd Ave.

Kate Lisi, Yorkville

Ben Wetzler, Democratic District Leader for the UES, Lenox Hill, and Roosevelt Island

Deb Brown, Yorkville

Jesse Lehrer, E. 82nd St. and Madison Ave.

Kim Moscaritolo, Democratic District Leader for the 76th AD

Erica Vladimer, Democratic State Committee Member for the 76th AD, Lenox Hill

Jeremy Berman, Democratic State Committee Member for the 76th AD, E. 89th St.

Gabriel Panek, E. 90s

Rebecca Weintraub, Democratic District Leader for the 76th AD Part A, E. 70s

Robyn Shepherd, Yorkville

Chris Sosa, E. 86th St.

Benjamin Akselrod, Four Freedoms Democratic Club Board Member, E. 80s

Jean Weille, E. 96th St.

Ray Lindenbaum, E. 92nd St.

Matthew Lindenbaum, E. 92nd St.

Sandhya Kumar, MD, MPH, E. 90th St.

Marieke Thomas, E. 90s

Jared Marnin, E. 81st St. and 2nd Ave.

Ben Bathman, E. 79th St. and York Ave.

Albin Henneberger, E. 92nd St. and 2nd Ave.

Amanda Clark, Yorkville

Josh Hamilton, Yorkville

Zoe Sailer, E. 90s

David Marvin, E. 92nd St. and 2nd Ave.

Mackenzie Behm, E. 81st St.

Veronica Moore-Stoll, E. 80s

T C, Yorkville

Erin Reddan, E. 91st St.

Amanda Brooks, E. 83rd St. and 2nd Ave.

Lauren Trapanotto, Four Freedoms Democratic Club member

Jared Smith, Yorkville

Sarah L. Wilkins, Ruppert Towers

Billy Freeland, Manhattan Community Board 8 Member, E. 86th St.

Kristina Giske, Yorkville

Lynne Shinozaki, Manhattan Community Board 8 Member

Svenja Wichmann, E. 105th St. and 2nd Ave.

John Bartos, E. 86th St. and York Ave.

Beba Cibralic, E. 96th St.

William Hockstein, E. 92nd St. and 2nd Ave.

Joseph Castillo, Yorkville

Frank Ciulla, E. 81st St.

CC: Council Member Julie Menin

Assembly Member Rebecca Seawright

State Senator Liz Krueger

Manhattan Community Board 8