A conflict over a plan to demolish a church and turn it into a homeless shelter is tearing a South Bronx neighborhood apart.
The only problem?
There’s no homeless shelter in the works.
The historic church, which hasn’t been active for at least five years, is actually slated to be knocked down to make way for supportive and affordable housing. But even efforts to get that information into the Melrose community haven’t tamped down the mounting opposition to the project.
“The project has been surrounded by a lot of mystery,” said Michael Rodriguez, 30, a baseball coach who lives close to the church lot. “We don’t know if it’s going to be affordable housing … They’ve just said that. We don’t know if that’s true. I don’t want to call anybody a liar, but we’ve heard different things.”
Rodriguez said he took issue both with the destruction of the church, built in 1878 and originally a German Methodist organization, and the idea of a homeless shelter or supportive housing coming in, which he said would bring in transient residents. He started a petition against the demolition, which is underway.
“Not only are they demolishing something historic, … but now you say there’s gonna be a homeless shelter,” he said.
Before the pandemic, plans were set to change the church property into a new building that will supply affordable units and supportive housing for veterans. COVID delayed the process, and now, as the project inches forward, the community is reacting more strongly than ever.
The conflict has devolved into rumors and claims of lies and fear-mongering.
“It’s just frustrating to hear individuals that live directly across the street that prefer to see a vacant church, to come up with lies to the community,” said City Council Member Rafael Salamanca Jr., who chairs the Land Use Committee. “To say, ‘Oh, we’re building a homeless shelter.’ And then when we give them facts — that it’s not a shelter, it’s actually true affordable housing.
“And they start attacking: ‘Is it really affordable housing?’ It’s just really upsetting, to say the least, to hear these naysayers in this district in the South Bronx, given the fact that they know how much of a need of affordable housing we have throughout our community.”
There’s little debate New York City is in a housing crisis. Homelessness has hit record highs this winter. On Thursday night, more than 70,000 people spent the night in a city shelter. High rents and an influx of migrants to the city’s system have made it more difficult than ever to find affordable housing.
Proponents of the project that supportive housing units are a highly-effective and sorely-needed solution that will actually keep people off the streets.
Supportive housing provides permanent housing to otherwise-homeless individuals who need extra mental or physical help. On-site services like employment help, healthcare services, counseling and therapy are designed to help get residents on their feet.
This project, located at 790 Elton Ave in the Bronx, will house 78 supportive units and 50 affordable units. The nonprofit Jericho Project will manage the project and Azimuth Development Fund, a construction company, will build it. The plans have been locked in for years — a spokesperson for the Jericho Project said they presented the plans at a community board meeting in February 2020.
But that hasn’t stopped the opposition from gaining momentum as the church starts to come down.
Christopher Pimentel, a freelance programmer, owns a home near the site. He said he believes that the project will be turned into a homeless shelter despite what elected officials and the nonprofit operator say.
“They use affordable housing as a way to throw people off the scent,” said Pimentel, who said he’s one of a group of dozens who oppose the project. “ … I’m almost certain that the church is going to be a homeless shelter.”
Pimentel petitioned in 2020 to give the church landmark status, but the Landmarks Preservation Commission rejected it. Salamanca said the church has been vacant for years and in a state of disrepair, with raccoons and rats running around it.
Representatives from the Jericho Project said they plan on going to a community board meeting April 12 to address the homeless shelter rumors. Community board approval isn’t required for this project.
“We’re going to be there for the long term and in that community, operating the building and providing services,” said Craig Cetta, Director of Housing Development for the Jericho Project. “So we want to be good neighbors. There seems to be some disconnect about whether this is a shelter going in.”
The vacant church, close to public transportation and public parks, is a good location for the project, Cetta said.
“Maybe some people in the community are thinking homeless people are coming from outside of the neighborhood and they’re going to cause trouble,” Tori Lyon, CEO of the Jericho Project said. “[But] if you were to visit any one of our supportive housing residences, you would see that they’re integrated in the community, there’s no sign that says it’s supportive housing, it’s just part of the community.”
The Melrose clash is an example of conflicts over shelter and housing that are playing out citywide. A neighborhood fight over supportive housing in Morris Park, also in the Bronx, remains heated.
“It’s unfortunate that there are certain communities that have this nimbyism attitude, where they prefer to see a vacant lot or they prefer to see an abandoned building as opposed to retrofitting that vacant lot or an abandoned building into affordable housing,” said Salamanca. “And it’s unfortunate that that’s happening in my own community.”
“This fear-mongering and nimbyism is happening throughout the entire city,” Salamanca said.