The other vehemently opposed shelter, on East Broadway, will also be housed in another old hotel. In November, Thomas Yu, co-executive director of Asian Americans for Equality, a social services and affordable housing nonprofit with deep roots in Chinatown, announced pledged support and said his team would support in Chinese there.
Soon after, protesters carrying signs reading “AAFE sold out of Chinatown” arrived at the group’s office.
AAFE officials said the day after Ms. Lee was murdered, protesters banged on the doors and windows of the office and tried to find their way in.
AAFE has now stepped back from its role at the shelter.
“I would love it if they put down their slippers and help us,” said Mr. Yu, “because we are all in it.”
Opponents argue that the Chinatown shelters would violate the city’s Fair Shares law, which regulates the fair distribution of social service programs around. But the legal requirements are vague, and the question of whether Chinatown is already overcrowded is a difficult one.
The Manhattan 2 community, including Chinatown west, has no shelter; Grand Street will be the first.
But the shelters in District 3 Community, which includes the eastern half of Chinatown, including East Broadway, house more than 1,000 people. Shelter opponents note that this is far more than the number of homeless people coming from the county and argue that the city is placing an unfair burden on the county.
To shelter rivals, the city’s rationale for defining safe havens appears to be an infuriating circle: They say their existence attracts even drug traffickers. and other homeless people, whom the city’s presence then uses to justify opening more shelters.
