The Park Savoy Hotel at 158 West 58th Street (Credit: Google Maps)
Mayor Bill de Blasio’s plans for a homeless shelter on Billionaires’ Row have hit a snag.
Appellate Judge Jeffrey Oing granted a resident group’s temporary relief on Wednesday, two weeks after a lower court denied their petition for a preliminary injunction at the former Park Savoy Hotel. The project at 158 West 58th Street is now on hold pending a full appeals panel review.
The West 58th Street Coalition sued the city in July, claiming the proposed shelter was unsafe and that it would drive up crime in the area.
In particular, the Coalition claimed that the proposed shelter is “a fire trap and a disaster waiting to happen” due to its lack of multiple egresses and inadequate sprinkler systems, among other factors.
The proposed 140-bed shelter, which will be located at the site of the old Park Savoy Hotel, will be adjacent to the rear entrance of Extell Development’s One57. Security at the shelter would include 56 surveillance cameras and at least two guards.
Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Alexander Tisch denied the residents’ petition earlier this month, noting that “petitioners’ mere distaste for the presence of homeless men in their neighborhood does not constitute legally cognizable harm” and that “the shelter has been issued a temporary certificate of occupancy and is presumably safe to open.”
The shelter is part of de Blasio’s “Turning the Tide on Homelessness” program announced last year, which includes plans to create 90 new shelters across the five boroughs.
A final decision on the motion for stay is due on Jan. 21, after both sides have provided further arguments, according to court documents. [NYP] —Kevin Sun
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