Exclusive | Court thwarts Mamdanis effort to shutter a NYC homeless drop-in center for now
Mainchance just got another chance.The homeless drop-in center in Midtown East faced closure at the end of June, but now has until mid-August to remedy alleged contract violations, Brady Crain, the CEO and executive director of Mainchance, told The Post. A day after The Post wrote about the dire situation — which would have left homeless clients of the facility with nowhere to go — Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Lynn R.Kotler issued a stay until Aug.
11.The ruling, filed Thursday, prohibits the city from shuttering the facility, and orders the Department of Homeless Services and the Department of Social Services to keep funding Mainchance’s operations after June 30 — the day it was slated to shut down.Mainchance, located at 120 E.32nd St., alleged in a Manhattan Supreme Court petition that the city sent a letter, in part, complaining that Mainchance violated its contract by turning clients away — and then days later informed the facility that it would be closing June 30.“Our review found that Mainchance failed to meet [Department of Homeless Services] contract requirements and restricted access to essential services, including restroom access and food outside of scheduled meal times,” a City Hall spokesperson previously told The Post in a statement.
She declined to comment on the stay.Mainchance, its not-for-profit operator Grand Central Neighborhood Social Services and one of its clients claimed in their recent petition the infractions are “not a reasonable basis for terminating the Mainchance contract, especially given the absence of any plans by DHS to otherwise provide services for homeless people in this neighborhood being displaced by Mainchance’s closure.”An effort by the city to shutter Mainchance initially erupted in 2024 over allegations of “underperforming” during then-Mayor Eric Adams’ tenure, but the same judge, Kotler, ruled the city could not terminate the contract.Marc Gross, attorney for Mainchance, said at the latest cou...