City's Largest Homeless Shelter to Close

New York, NY —

Mayor Bloomberg has announced plans to close the city's largest shelter for homeless families this September. As WNYC's Cindy Rodriguez reports, at its peak the shelter housed 1-thousand children and adults.

In 2002, when the shelter was about to open in the South Ozone Park section of Queens, community outcry was strong. Residents fought it, saying it would lower property values. But it was a time when the number of homeless families was skyrocketing, and the city prevailed.

Mayor Bloomberg says between last December and this May the homeless population dropped by nearly 2400 people - the largest 6 month decrease since 1990. City officials credit homeless prevention programs and the decision to no longer offer federally funded section 8 vouchers that the city says served as an incentive to enter the shelter system.

According to a recent evaluation, the Queens shelter was well run. Some advocates question why the city did not first close shelters that perform poorly.