Douglaston Shelter Proposal Gets Community Board Hearing

DOUGLASTON, QUEENS — Queens Community Board 11 will host a hearing Tuesday night on the proposal announced last month to build a homeless shelter for senior women in Douglaston.

The community board's Douglaston zoning committee and health and human services committee will co-chair a virtual hearing at 7:30 p.m. "to discuss the upcoming shelter project," according to the meeting agenda.

The 75-bed shelter at 243-02 Northern Blvd. will be run by the nonprofit Samaritan Village. It is slated to open in late 2021.

It would be the first homeless shelter in the Northeast Queens district overseen by Community Board 11, according to the NYC Department of Social Services, the umbrella agency for the Department of Homeless Services.

Plans announced to stakeholders in December initially called for a single men's shelter, but the city changed course after officials were met with opposition by City Council Member Paul Vallone, state Assembly Member Edward Braunstein and state Sen. John Liu.

When contacted in December, Queens Community Board 11 Chair Mike Budabin declined to comment on the shelter proposal.

Vallone, Braunstein and Liu criticized the Department of Homeless Services for announcing the shelter plans before engaging with neighborhood residents and stakeholders, but a spokesperson for the Department of Social Services disputed the characterization.

The Department of Social Services spokesperson, Neha Sharma, said the agency informed the community about the shelter on Dec. 22 and that agency officials "remain committed" to notifying communities about new shelters at least 30 days before they open.