City silently sets up emergency housing

An emergency housing facility that may have as many as 30 people has quietly come to Webb Avenue.

Community Board (CB) 8 learned of the development from a representative for the mayor in April. Elvin Garcia, the Bronx borough director of the mayor’s community affairs unit, told the board that the city’s Human Resources Administration (HRA) has been using 2810 Webb Ave. as an “emergency housing facility.” He said the site is “not a homeless shelter,” but “assists people living with AIDS or HIV to live healthier, more independent lives,” according to minutes from CB 8’s April 12 full board meeting.

A spokesperson for HRA, which provides a range of social service programs, declined to answer any questions, citing confidentiality laws. It was not clear how long the city has used the three-story house at 2810 Webb Ave. as a housing facility. No one answered the door there when a reporter visited last week.

Northwest Bronx Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz voiced anger that the city had not notified him about the facility.

“I was told there are 30 people in this private house,” he said in a phone interview. “I certainly don’t want to see 30 people in that one private house. No, that’s not acceptable.

“I don’t like the fact that I found out about it by means other than hearing it from the city,” Mr. Dinowitz added. “I think my constituents have a right to know what’s going on in their own neighborhood.”

The situation was reminiscent of a new homeless facility on Broadway in North Riverdale. Last week, residents and local elected officials were furious to learn that the city had established housing for 54 homeless men at the Van Cortlandt Motel in October without informing them.

The revelation prompted a group of local activists to demand the closure of the facility, and the Department of Homeless Services said the men would be relocated within the next four months.

The house at 2810 Webb Ave. is on a quiet street several blocks away from the Kingsbridge Armory. Several people who live near the new emergency housing facility voiced concerns about the site. They said they did not know the purpose of the home, only that a number of people had recently moved in.

One resident, Jose Garcia, said he noticed new residents at 2810 Webb Ave. about three months ago.

“I work all kind of hours,” said Mr. Garcia, 56, who works for the city’s Department of Sanitation. “When I get up to go to work, when I start at 6 or 7, I’m leaving here at 5, 4:30 in the morning. You see characters that shouldn’t be out here in the street.”

Mr. Dinowitz said since the residents of 2810 Webb Ave. have health issues, privacy laws make it difficult to gain information about the home.

“I want to know if this is going to be a permanent situation. None of us is engaging in a witch hunt,” he said. “We need to know, number one, if they do things properly, if the process is followed properly, if the accommodation is safe and if there are too many people there.”