Urgent Update On Proposed 9th Street Men's Shelter In Carroll Gardens

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UPDATE:
On Tuesday, October 15th at 7:00 PM, Councilmember Brad Lander will be joining the Coalition for Carroll Gardens in the lobby of 505 Court Street to provide an update on the shelter, answer questions, and direct us on the importance of participating in every possible direct action. Brad Lader has already contacted the DOB and the Department of Investigations for further clarifications.
Coalition For Carroll Gardens just released an update on the proposed 170-bed men's shelter at 165 West 9th Street in Carroll Gardens. Apparently, the City just announced that it will hold a public hearing regarding a 5 year, $30 million dollar contract with the shelter's operator,  Housing Solutions USA/Aguila Inc., a Bronx-based non-profit organization.

Below is the urgent message from Coalition For Carroll Gardens:

Dear Supporter,
Our last update addressed the Audit that DOB had conducted which raised a serious set of concerns about the approval to turn 165 west 9th st into a dormitory style accomodation for 170 men.
We heard nothing all summer, but recently learned that the DOB dismissed all its objections to approve the building permits it had revoked. No elected official was notified, nor have they explained how the various egregious objections were completely dropped.

Brad Lander, Velmanette Montgomery and Joan Millman this week sent a letter demanding more information from the DOB and requesting through the Freedom of Information Act all documents relating to this decision to see how the DOB waived its concerns. As yet, Brad Lander has received no response, nor ackowledgement, from Ira Gluckman, R.A., DOB Borough Commissioner, or John Gallagher R.A., DOB Deputy Borough Commissioner.

Today we learned that the city will hold a public hearing on a proposed contract for a shelter at 165 west 9th st on October 17 from 9-5. The total contract shall be $29,987,257 dollars. The contract shall be from November 1 2013 to June 30 2018. With an option to renew from July 1 2018 to June 30 2022 (as detailed in the City Register).

A draft copy of the proposal will be available for Public Inspection at the DHS, 33 Beaver St, NY 10004 from October 4th 2013 to October 17 2013 from 9-5 Mondays to Fridays.

Comptroller Liu is continuing his audit of Aguila and it will be in his hands to approve this contract.

STAY TUNED: CCG WILL BE COORDINATING A SERIES OF SPECIFIC ACTIONS OVER THE WEEKEND FOR YOU TO BEGIN NEXT WEEK. AGUILA AND LAPES HAVE RECEIVED NOTHING BUT BAD PRESS AND YET THEY STAND TO REAP 30 MILLION DOLLARS FOR A FIVE YEAR CONTRACT ON A BUILDING THAT WAS BEEN ILLEGALLY CONTRUCTED.

We will need our supporters to give oral or written testimony on the 17th of October at the City Hearings. We also need to support Brad Landers in his request to the DOB to find out how the long list of DOB objections could all be dismissed. And we need to let Liu know our concerns about this contract.

CCG will be sending an update over the next days with detailed suggestions about who to contact and what to say.

LAPES, HESS and AGUILA have been waiting in the wings for this moment. If we don't act now, they will be our neighbor for a long time.

PLEASE CHECK OUR FACEBOOK PAGE and our website ccgbrooklyn.com for further updates. We will be posting the documents pertaining to these recent findings that we have available shortly.

Thank you for everything you have done. We can still make a difference.

PLEASE FORWARD THIS INFORMATION TO ALL YOUR FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS. POST IT ON LOCAL LISTSERVES AND KEEP THE CONVERSATION GOING.

And Thank you! CCGBROOKLYN