Exclusive | Midtown East loses its only homeless shelter as city shutters 35-year-old center
City Hall insists it is tackling New York’s homeless crisis — but in Midtown East, it’s about to get worse.At the end of business Tuesday, the Mainchance homeless drop-in center — the sole homeless center in the neighborhood — will close for good, displacing dozens of the neighborhood’s most vulnerable residents.The city decided not to renew the contract for the drop-in center, which has operated for 35 years and is currently located at 120 E.32nd St.
A Manhattan Supreme Court judge had previously issued a stay until Aug.11, but she vacated that order June 23 after the city filed an emergency appeal, clearing the way for the closure.“Many of the clients don’t want to go,” Brady Crain, CEO and executive director of Mainchance, told The Post.
“Just last week we had 66 people staying overnight.We were fully operating.”The Department of Homeless Services has been on site, directing clients to various social service providers.Crain said he is “very worried” about the clients.On June 26, Mainchance put its chairs out on the sidewalk for the taking, Crain said.
Tuesday morning, the center gave out its remaining pantry items to clients.By midday, only staff remained on site.“The city had determined that the drop-in center is not an efficient, effective use of the city’s limited resources,” the city’s attorney said in court on June 18.Instead, the city wants the homeless to go into safe havens, where they can sleep in a bed overnight before moving into permanent housing.
Mainchance submitted a proposal to convert from a drop-in center to a safe haven a couple of years ago, which the city said it is still considering.Roschel Holland Stearns, who sits on the Mainchance board, said the city’s shelter system is “full.”Mainchance, which has operated out of its current location since 2005, enrolled 5,800 homeless individuals as “clients” for housing placement services during the first 10 months of this fiscal year, according to cour...