A neighborhood fight in Gowanus over a planned emergency migrant shelter is escalating — with a lawsuit filed last week and allegations that “racist” overtones are creeping into the debate.
Over the past several months, concerns about the site’s size and location — steps from the historically contaminated Gowanus Canal in a zone polluted with toxins — have cropped up.
The debate came to a head Monday, when many of those issues were overshadowed by safety concerns and fears of migrant-driven crime or drug use in the area, several people present at a town-hall style meeting told the Daily News. While the shelter sits on a lot zoned for manufacturing, it is a short distance from a more residential area featuring the area’s trademark brownstones.
Michael Racioppo, District Manager of Brooklyn Community Board 6, called much of the backlash voiced “racist.”
“We understand that people can be concerned about change when it comes to neighborhoods, but rhetoric can venture into pretty racist areas and we will not support that in any way shape or form,” Racioppo said.
City officials have shot back that the neighborhood is one of few in the five boroughs without a shelter, and that residents have had ample notice, being notified back in November.
Unswayed, residents, business owners, and politicians in the mostly Asian neighborhood came together Saturday to say no to the city’s plans, as Mayor Eric Adams’ administration works to address the city’s rapidly rising homeless rate.
Watch the video below:
More than 179,000 migrants have come to New York City since spring 2022. In response to the influx, the city has opened 217 emergency shelters.
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