Monday, June 30, 2008

Shelter resident describes daily life at Bedford-Atlantic

Readers will notice that we have begun featuring posts from our friend Nathan's blog over at bedford-atlantic.blogspot.com. Nathan describes himself on his blog as being "about as normal as you. Before I got to where I am today, I had a nice home in a nice city, a nice car, a nice dog and lots of nice friends. How easily it all slipped away. I could well have been your neighbor, your friend, your schoolmate or your relative."

"Tenaciously holding on to [his] dignity," Nathan describes his blog as "a chronicle not only of my life at the worst shelter in New York, but of all of the other tribulations I experience at the hands of other city services as I try to get my life back in order."

Betraying Nathan's natural sense of cynicism and irony that somehow manage to make his situation and the status of the shelter almost humorous in a dark kind of way, the blog is titled "Life at Castle Grayskull" - invoking the gloomy outward appearance of the shelter.

Head over to Nathan's blog to get an inside look at Bedford-Atlantic and the typical life of one of its residents.

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Monday, June 23, 2008

Infamous Alumnus of Bedford-Atlantic


We can add Robert Williams, currently being tried for the 19 hour-long rape and torture of a Columbia University grad student in her Hamilton Heights apartment, to the list of criminals who have passed through the halls of our favorite homeless shelter--apparently living there for as long as a year. We can also add this to our list of reasons why this place has got to go.



Prosecutor Details Rape That Lasted 19 Hours
Courtesy of the NY Times

Cowardly Columbia torture suspect forced to attend trial
Courtesy of the NY Daily News

Update: We got the following note from Dept. of Homeless Services Press Secretary Heather Janik...

Hi Errol,

I hope this email finds you well. I wanted to touch base and let you know that we researched Robert Williams case history and he was not ever a resident at Bedford-Atlantic, as Angel Rendon’s blog suggests.

Thank you, have a good weekend,

Heather Janik
Press Secretary
City of New York
Department of Homeless Services

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Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Momentum

Budget negotiations that are wrapping up over the next few days have the potential to kill this once and for all!

Read the letter signed by 24 state legislators urging Governor Patterson to kill the plan to relocate the Manhattan central intake center to the Bedford-Atlantic Armory shelter
here.

Courtesy of coalitionforthehomeless.org

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Monday, June 16, 2008

Department of Homeless Services still not screening for sex offenders

Sex offenders are still being housed at shelters for homeless families a year after the problem was first exposed, a new report revealed Sunday.

State Sen. Jeff Klein (D-Bronx) charged that the Department of Homeless Services is still failing to screen applicants to make sure they are not on the Megan's Law registry, allowing serious sex offenders to be assigned to shelters that house children.

"It will take them five minutes to avoid a lifetime of trauma for a child who may be hurt by one of these individuals," said Klein outside the agency's Manhattan office.

Last year, Klein found six level 2 or 3 sex offenders who had registered family shelters as their addresses.

The latest report found five sexual predators giving family shelters as their address, though only two could be verified as still living at the facilities.

DHS officials cited the agency's legal obligation to shelter anyone who applies and policies that make it difficult to separate families who apply together.


Courtesy of the NY Daily News
Read the article here

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Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Life at Castle Grayskull - Fans


It has been blazing hot at Bedford-Atlantic recently, just as it has been everywhere else. The intense heat has been especially pronounced in the dormitories, which are long, narrow rooms with windows only at one end. To exacerbate the heat situation, some of the windows are bolted shut and therefore cannot be opened. As there is (thankfully, as far as I am concerned) no air conditioning in the dormitories, one might reasonably expect there to at least be fans to provide some sort of relief from the heat. There are, however, no fans in the dormitory areas besides those that some enterprising residents have managed to acquire and put into use.

Read the entire post here!

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MARCH OVER B'KLYN BRIDGE FOLLOWED BY RALLY @ CITY HALL

Council Member Letitia James, along with Coalition for the Homeless, Crown Heights Revitalization Movement (CHRM), neighborhood residents & local community groups, advocates for the homeless and public officials participate in march over the Brooklyn Bridge, followed by a rally at City Hall to oppose DHS’ plan to move the men’s homeless intake center in Manhattan to the Bedford Atlantic Armory in Brooklyn

This march and rally, in support of homeless individuals and the community is scheduled to take place on Thursday, June 12th (right before the Stated Council meeting). The marchers will meet at the entrance of the Brooklyn Bridge at 12 PM, and enter at Adams and Tillary Streets. The group will then walk along the bridge footpath to City Hall Park. The rally is scheduled to begin at 1:00 PM on the Steps of City Hall.

Please join us to fight this misguided plan that will not benefit the City’s male homeless population (60% reside in Manhattan), and will harm a struggling community.

Who: Council Member Letitia James, Coalition for the Homeless, Crown Heights Revitalization Movement, advocates for the homeless, advocates for the community, and public officials

What: March over the Brooklyn Bridge in opposition of DHS’ (Department of Homeless Services) plan to close the men’s homeless intake center in Manhattan, immediately followed by a Rally on Steps of City Hall to demand that the City abandon plans to move the men’s homeless intake center to Brooklyn’s Bedford Atlantic Armory, located in an already overburdened community

When: Thursday, June 12th - march begins at 12 PM, and press conference/rally is at 1 PM

Where: Marchers will meet at the entrance of Brooklyn Bridge around noon (Tillary and Adams Streets) – Rally attendees will gather on the Steps of City Hall

Contact: Amyre Loomis at (718) 260-9191

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Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Life at Castle Grayskull - Protest March


Besides the fact that Bedford-Atlantic is not particularly well run, the shelter is a long way (about nine miles) from midtown Manhattan. A homeless person is not likely to be able to afford a limo or a taxi to the shelter. In fact, he may not even have money for carfare. Instead, he must walk the entire distance while carrying what may amount to all of his possessions with him. This is no mean feat. My suitcase of belongings (before the suitcase got stolen from under my bed) weighed around fifty pounds. If I were to have to move today, I would have to carry those fifty pounds of possessions in plastic bags with no handles or wheels to help me along. If the weather were as hot as it is today, or if it were pouring down rain or freezing cold and snowy, the idea of covering such a distance becomes even more daunting. In such a case, a homeless person facing such a trek might have to decide between sleeping rough on the street or abandoning some or all of his belongings in order to be able to seeks shelter.


Read the full post here!

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Monday, June 9, 2008

Life at Castle Grayskull - Hot Sinks

After several days of tepid showers, I was unable to stand beneath the water in the showers this morning. The steaming hot water burnt to the touch, so I was forced to first hold a wash cloth under the water, wait for it to cool down and then finally apply it to my body. My search for the "goldilocks shower" continues. After I finished my shower, I proceeded to the sink area to brush my teeth. Today, once again, I experienced one of the oddest things about life at Bedford-Atlantic. For whatever reason, very often both of the taps on every sink produce hot water. I am not talking about warm tap water, but hot water just as scalding as that which I found in the shower. The only way, it seems, to get any cool water is to be the first person to use a particular sink in the morning and to get whatever cool water is still in the pipes.


Read the full post here!

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Sunday, June 8, 2008

Life at Castle Grayskull - Eternal "Assessment"


Bedford-Atlantic is what is called an "assessment" shelter. What that means is that people entering the shelter system are sent to the shelter so that their needs can be assessed. Once the assessment process is complete, they are supposed to be transferred to "permanent" shelters that are supposed to be equipped to address any special needs that the client might have. For example, there are shelters that house people who have jobs and other shelters for folks who have substance abuse problems or mental health issues. The assessment process is quite simple. The client is required to have a TB test, can opt to have an HIV test, must have a cursory physical examination (vital statistics, urinalysis and a blood draw), and must have a cursory psychiatric evaluation (ten minutes answering questions posed by a psychiatrist who takes clients at their word).


Read the full post here!

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Life at Castle Grayskull - Drug Free Zone? (Part 3)

It is very common at Bedford-Atlantic for men to walk around from dormitory to dormitory trying to sell a variety of goods to the other residents. Normally, the range of merchandise on offer ranges from cigarettes to clothes and shoes. Occasionally, somebody also has DVDs (almost exclusively of the XXX variety) or cheap consumer electronics for sale. With the exception of the cigarettes, these goods are usually offered at a steep discount to the market value, making one wonder where or how the seller obtained the merchandise.


Read the full post here!

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Life at Castle Grayskull - An Unpleasant Nocturnal Interruption (Part 2)

It was hot last night. Unlike many people, hot weather does not bother me. In fact, I quite enjoy it. I find sleeping on a hot, humid night to be quite enjoyable. Therefore, when I went to bed last night, I was looking forward to several hours of fitful slumber, even as others were griping about the oppressive heat and the lack of fans in the dormitories (there is actually one small wall fan in my dormitory, but it was not turned on and nobody could find a switch for it). Unfortunately, however, my peaceful slumber was cut rudely short by what can only be described by shocking behavior by the man occupying the bed across from mine.


Read the full post here!

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Life at Castle Grayskull - Appropriate Attire


When I woke up this morning, my t-shirt was damp from last night's heat, so I decided to take it off. I took out a fresh t-shirt but decided not to put it on until after I had a shower as my body was sweaty. I gathered my shower things together and headed downstairs. As I entered the main floor to go to the back of the building where the showers are, I received my first shout of the day: "Sir," a policewoman bellowed in such a manner as to make the honorific sound like a curse. "You're gonna have to go back upstairs and put a shirt on. You can't go around like that!"


Read the full post here!

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Thursday, June 5, 2008

Sex Offender: Rodney Singletary

Name: Singletary, Rodney
Description
Race: Black
Ethnicity: Unknown
Height: 5'11"
Weight 170
Hair: Black
Eyes: Brown
Special Characteristics: none
DOB: 09/29/1965

Residence: Bedford-Atlantic Armory Shelter

Conviction
Crime: Non-NYS Felony Sex Offense
Date: 12/22/1994
Victim: Female, 28 years
Sentence: 10 years, State Prison

Offense Description: Attempted Sexual Intercourse, Actual Deviate Sexual Intercourse, Attempted Sexual Contact
Relationship to victim: Non-Stranger
Weapon used: No weapon used
Force used: No force used

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Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Life at Castle Grayskull - My New Case Worker

Now that the powers that be at Bedford Atlantic have shipped out half of the shelter's residents to parts unknown and closed down two floors of the shelter, apparently to prepare for their "intake" role, there have been some changes. One of the most significant, for those of us seeking services, is that they have changed the assignment of case workers. Previously, case workers were assigned based upon one's bed number. Now, the assignment is based upon the first letter of one's surname. Mind you, the shelter staff did not bother to actually tell anybody about this change. They simply posted the new regime in various places around the shelter. For those of us in the shelter who are motivated (a small minority) and literate (it would be interesting to find out how many of the residents here are literate), this is not too much of a problem. For others, however, this could present difficulties. In fact, I have already seen one unfortunate resident being upbraided by his former caseworker: "I'm not your case worker anymore. Look at the list! It goes by last name now. Go look at the list!"


Read the full post here!

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TWO HUNDRED RALLY AT BEDFORD-ATLANTIC ARMORY SHELTER

Brooklyn, Jun 3, 2008—A crowd of two hundred Central Brooklyn residents, members of
community-based organizations, and elected officials gathered near the steps of the Bedford-Atlantic Armory Shelter to protest a disastrous plan, recently announced by the Bloomberg administration, to close the existing central intake center for all homeless men in New York City. Under this plan, the current Manhattan site would be leased to private developers to build a luxury hotel and conference center, and the intake center for all homeless men from all five boroughs would be relocated to a dangerous and difficult to reach armory in Crown Heights, Brooklyn.

Sunday’s rally was organized by the Crown Heights Revitalization Movement (CHRM). Sandy Taggart, one of CHRM’s co-founders, said of Sunday’s rally, “This is just the beginning. This community cares for people, and the community’s opposition to the City’s plan is tremendous because it is bad for everyone—the homeless men currently living at the shelter, all homeless men in New York City, and the people who live and work in Central Brooklyn.” CHRM is joined in the fight by neighborhood residents and businesses, many local community groups (Crow Hill Community Association, Crown Heights Unites Coalition, Crown Heights North Association, Central Brooklyn Anti-Violence Coalition), advocates for the homeless (Coalition for the Homeless, the Legal Aid Society, Homeless Services United), and many of Brooklyn’s elected officials.

Speakers at Sunday’s rally, in unanimous opposition to the City’s plan, included Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz; NYS Senators Velmanentte Montgomery and Eric Adams; NYS Assemblymen Hakeem Jeffries and Karim Camara; NY City Council Members Letitia James, Albert Vann, and Bill deBlasio; Democratic District Leader Jesse Hamilton; Nizjoni Granville, Chair of the
Housing Committee for Community Board 8; Patrick Markee, Senior Policy Analyst for the
Coalition for the Homeless; Nathan Ashford, a resident of the Bedford-Atlantic Shelter; New York Daily News Columnist Errol Louis; and Takhara Robinson of the Central Brooklyn Anti-Violence Coalition.

Citing poor management of the Brooklyn shelter, the harm to all homeless men Citywide and the degradation of the quality of life in the already oversaturated residential communities of Central Brooklyn that are home to the Bedford-Atlantic Armory, the speakers demanded that Mayor Bloomberg and the City’s Department of Homeless Services keep the intake center in Manhattan, the borough with the largest number of street homeless men. According to Borough President Markowitz, the planned move of the intake center would be bad for both Brooklyn and Manhattan. Mr. Markowitz emphatically stated at the rally, "Manhattan residents agree with us because their fear is that if they move the intake center to here, more of those that need services will choose not to come to Brooklyn and will stay on the streets of Manhattan."

Common themes of the rally’s speakers were better services for homeless men, respect for Central Brooklyn, and fair share for all communities. "It's not a question of not in my backyard at all, media. We have done our fair share," said Councilmember Letitia James. NYS Senator Velmanette Montgomery was quick to point out the City’s abysmal management of the current shelter at the Bedford-Atlantic Armory, "We have had this ongoing battle to try to clean up this facility for many years, and we have still not gotten the city to pay attention, so rather than working with us to help bring the necessary support to the men in this facility they are now going to dump another number of homeless men in this place that is not fit for the men who live here already." Speaking of the disrespect for the Brooklyn communities that are home to the Armory, Councilmember de Blasio commented that it would "have been nice if the City of New York had come to you and said, 'What should we do here? How can we improve the community?' But that's never the way the City of New York starts the discussion," said de Blasio. "It never goes to people who've been the backbone of the community and says, 'What's the right thing to do?'"

The communities neighboring the Armory Shelter are culturally rich, diverse communities. These are old-fashioned friendly neighborhoods of churches, community organizations, and beautifully tended gardens. These are communities of hard-working families who take pride in their neighborhood and who are ready to lend a helping hand. They are also thriving and growing economically. But these communities are oversaturated with social service beds and are now stretched to the limit. According to official City and State data, Community Board 8, which is home to the Armory, has more residential social service beds per acre than any other Brooklyn neighborhood—more than six times the median.


Courtesy of www.revitalizecrownheights.org
June, 3, 2006, Tuesday

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Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Life at Castle Grayskull - Prettying up Bedford-Atlantic


On Saturday evening, I knew something was up. The floors inside the shelter were shiny and clean! In fact, the cleaners had been so thorough that they had moved the lockers in the dormitories away from the walls and had cleaned behind them! This was just the second time in three months that I had witnessed such a thorough cleaning of the unfortunate place that I currently call home.


Read the full post here!

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Life at Castle Grayskull - Yet Another Stigma?


The evening after the rally, I was walking in one dormitory and overheard a couple of residents talking about the rally. One of them said: "Sure, there's prob'ly some sex offenders in here. But that don't mean we's all sex offenders. Now folks gonna think any nigga comin' outta here might be one." This is not particularly elegantly put, but it is highly relevant. Those of us shelter residents that are trying to put our lives straight already know what it is like to be bunched together with the uncouth and unwashed folks who until recently loitered outside the shelter and gave all of us a bad name. We know what it is like to be discriminated against and looked down on just because we are down on our luck. Please do not make things worse by buying into the paranoia and fear and assuming that anybody that emerges from Bedford-Atlantic is a sexual predator on the prowl.


Read the full post here!

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