The city is planning to shell out $43 million to a politically-connected nonprofit, so it can continue running a notorious Queens homeless shelter that’s been bombarded for years by complaints of residents masturbating in public, using drugs and menacing neighbors, The Post has learned.
The 180-bed shelter for single men at 78-16 Cooper Avenue in Glendale has been the subject of 2,251 911 calls, 677 other emergency calls and 278 on-site arrests since Yonkers-based Westhab began operating it in January 2020 under a $60.1 million contract that expires June 30, according to data compiled by Councilman Robert Holden.
The moderate Queens Democratic fired off a letter to the Department of Homeless Services last week “strongly demand[ing]” it reject plans to extend the nonprofit’s deal through June 2028 and “permanently close” the Cooper Avenue Rapid Rehousing Center.
“The failures at this shelter, compounded by Westhab’s ineptitude, have caused irreparable harm to Glendale and Middle Village residents and to the vulnerable individuals residing in the shelter,” he wrote.
The shelter’s second-floor bathroom has become a “notorious drug den” that Westhab “has taken no meaningful action’ to address, and local businesses claim shelter residents are driving away customers by loitering and aggressively panhandling.
“Children and parents have [also] been subjected to appalling incidents, including shelter clients masturbating in public” a few blocks away at Pinocchio Playground, the councilman wrote.
Providing shelter is apparently a family affair at the DHS.
Westhab’s vice president is Valerie Smith, sister of NYC Homeless Services Administrator Joslyn Carter, and it’s received 28 contracts and renewals totaling more than $2.5 billion since Smith joined Westhab in 2017, according to data compiled by the city Comptroller’s office.
DHS has repeatedly insisted there’s no nepotism or favoritism, saying Carter recuses herself from any contracts involving her sister’s firm.
However, Holden wrote “the mere existence of this relationship” – first exposed by The Post in 2023 – “erodes public trust and warrants an independent investigation.”
The DHS and Westhab didn’t return messages.
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