NYPD TIX BLITZ HITS HATED HOMELESS SITE

The NYPD has taken its "ticket blitz" to the homeless.

Residents of one of the city's most notorious homeless shelters received 228 summonses in a 28-day blitz by the 77th and 79th precincts, The Post has learned.

Cops say the quality-of-life summonses will restore order around Brooklyn's Bedford-Atlantic shelter, but the men who call the shelter home say cops are hitting them with fines on specious charges such as trespassing and loitering.

"We're just out here trying to get work and they give us tickets," said Anthony Diaz, 35, who was hit for "trespass-ing" outside the shelter, although he lives there.

Ernest Smith, 39, got a summons on each of three straight days this month. One was for disorderly conduct and an-other for impeding pedestrian traffic. The third was illegible.

Many of the summonses are dismissed when the men appear in court, but some carry $75 fines.

Police said the clampdown comes in response to complaints from residents who live near the shelter, located in an old armory at Bedford and Atlantic avenues.

"It's our primary quality-of-life location and it's an area that we have to give daily attention to," said Deputy Inspec-tor James O'Connell, commanding officer of the 77th Precinct.

GIMME SHELTER

* 350-bed men's shelter run by city Department of Homeless Services.

* DHS peace officers are stationed within the shelter for security.

* Designed by Isaac G. Perry chief architect of the State Capital in Albany, the
Romanesque structure was origi-nally built for the 23rd Regiment and was one of 29 armories built in New York and Brooklyn between 1880 and 1913.

* Construction began in 1889 and was completed in 1902.


Courtesy of the NY Post
November 19, 2003

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