Peekskill Residents Increase Pressure to Stop Relocation Plans for Homeless Shelter
Peekskill residents are fighting to protect their neighborhood as Caring for the Hungry and Homeless of Peekskill (CHHOP) moves forward with its controversial relocation of the Jan Peek House Shelter.
Following a heavily contentious meeting hosted by CHHOP on Oct. 3, nearly 50 residents gathered on Saturday morning at Brian’s Automotive, a business located adjacent to the proposed relocation site, to share their concerns, urge Peekskill officials to oppose CHHOP’s proposal and discuss alternative locations for the homeless shelter.
“It’s not that we don’t want a homeless shelter, as we keep saying, this is just not the right location for it,” Beth Dee said. “There’s going to be a lot of demolition and things we need to consider and think about should it get passed. The main objective is to help them find a proper location to make sure everybody is properly cared for.”
CHHOP is currently proposing relocating its year-round, 24-hour shelter for homeless adults in northern Westchester to 851 Washington Street. The shelter, which has operated on 200 North Water Street since 1988, is planning to move in 2020.
CHHOP representative Lorenzo Dominguez told residents at the Oct. 3 forum that their building has been in legal foreclosure since 2016 and the building was set for sale on Oct. 4. He said CHHOP was in search of a stable and secure location for its residents.
The building on Washington Street was purchased by CHHOP for about $900,000 and is in dire need of expensive repairs and restorations. Besides needing approvals from the city’s planning and zoning boards, they need a special use permit from the Common Council.
Peekskill Mayor Andre Rainey and Councilwoman Vanessa Agudelo have signed a petition in support of the relocation, residents said. They also noted that CHHOP Executive Director Cynthia Knox was on Rainey’s transition team, CHHOP vice chair Ruth Wells currently serves on the Planning Commission and Wells’ husband, James Knight, is vice chair of the Zoning Board of Appeals.
“That’s a conflict of interest,” said Brian Dee, owner of Brian’s Automotive.
CHHOP has said the new location would provide a safer environment for residents to ensure they stay on the premises. Residents will be provided with dorm-style rooms, a kitchen, and a common area for programs and emergency services during the day. Currently, residents must leave the shelter at 6 a.m. on most days because CHHOP does not have space to accommodate them.
Other plans for the new facility include moving the entrance to the back of the building, as well as creating a covered outdoor and enclosed space. Project architect Duo Dickinson said that several locations were considered, but the building on Washington Avenue has positive and very sensitive aspects that provide enormous flexibility for design.
However, neighboring residents fear the ramifications of having a homeless shelter placed in a residential neighborhood. During Saturday’s meeting, residents said they feel unsafe with the relocation, adding concern for their children, the roughly 20 businesses in the area and the risk of property values dropping.
“If that goes in there, property values will go down and people will not want to come to the restaurants and the businesses because those people are going to wander the streets when they throw them out or they just hang out here and do nothing,” Brian Dee said. “It’s just going to affect everything.”
Dee added that he is in contact with a lawyer to fight the relocation.
“CHHOP has made it very clear they have no desire to change their mind,” Rachel Fenty said. “They don’t care. They are dead set on this building.”
Kyle Knapp, owner of Kyles Pub on 810 Washington Avenue, said he has experienced problems with the people visiting Westchester County Social Services, also on Washington Avenue. Knapp said someone wielded a hatchet through his window following a bad experience with social services, adding that he was in the process of hiring security.
With 171 homes and more than five school bus stops located near the proposed location, residents are also irked with possible sex offenders or addicts roaming the streets where children play. They also cited that the current shelter made roughly 100 phone calls to the Peekskill Police Department in one year, with calls concerning overdose, assault and altercations within the last three months.
“My kids play outside, they play across the street with another half dozen kids,” Scott Many said. “I want to know that I can trust to have my kids outside playing and not be worried about somebody who got thrown out (of the shelter) who’s really in crisis and is now roaming the neighborhood.”
Many added that he has already seen suitcases in the neighboring woods and fears that more will appear in the woods and parks when the shelter moves into the neighborhood.
“The only power we have is in numbers,” said Lindsey Fitzgerald, who is spearheading a petition with over 800 signatures to stop the relocation. “We have to keep the pressure on.”
