A court has ruled against residents of St. Albans who fought long and hard against city plans to put a homeless shelter on Hollis Avenue — and who came ever so close to succeeding.
Anthony Rivers, in an email to the Chronicle, said Judge Robert Nahman of Queens Superior Court’s Civil Division, rejected an attempt by People of the Neighborhood to stop the shelter.
“This comes as no surprise to us,” wrote Anthony Rivers, one of the founders of People for the Neighborhood and often its spokesman. “After bringing this case to Supreme Court a second time, the Court chose a judge less sympathetic to our case.”
The Manhattan-based Bluestone Group — not to be confused with the Bluestone organization, a third-generation real estate development firm with its offices in Jamaica — has leased and refurbished long-vacant apartment buildings between 202-02 and 202-24 Hollis Ave. A social service agency has been hosting homeless veterans there since this past winter.
Opponents of the shelter back in December won a temporary injunction against it, much to the dismay of officials with the city’s Department of Homeless Services.
Elected officials representing St. Albans drew much criticism from residents.
A subsequent ruling allowed the facility to operate while the shelter backers appealed.
People for the Neighborhood has asked New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman to investigate the city’s location process due to the city’s alleged disproportionate placement of supportive housing in Southeast Queens.
When the shelter first began accepting residents, Community Board 12 was home to 11 shelters and a majority of the transitional housing units in Queens.
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