Elected officials joined North Brooklyn community organizations at a rally to remind the City of their promise to build affordable housing on the site of the former Greenpoint Hospital: the new development is called Kingsland Commons. For four decades, the community fought for affordable housing here, and in 2018 the City agreed to their plan to build over 550 new 100% affordable apartments for seniors, families, individuals, and to rebuild, relocate, and maintain the 200-bed homeless shelter.
Shortly after the new homeless shelter was built on the site and was in operation, the Department of Homeless Services (DHS) decided to hold onto the original shelter site and use it as an assessment shelter due to the emergency order to close the Bellevue shelter. This action indefinitely delays the plans of converting the structure into affordable housing for seniors and others.
“In 2026, stage one of the [Kingsland Commons] opened with a 200-bed shelter operated by Project Renewal, that’s right behind you. Although the men’s shelter has relocated from building 3 [its original location] to the renovated building within this campus, DHS has now taken over building 3 for use as an assessment center, delaying plans for a 107 affordable housing units for seniors. These units were intended to include Section 8 subsidies, so that seniors would pay no more than 30% of their income towards rent. Without a planned timeline from DHS, the future of this much-needed affordable senior housing remains uncertain. We say: No more uncertainty. We demand accountability, transparency, and commitment for when building 3 will be returned its intended purpose,” said Karen Leader of Greenpoint Renaissance Enterprise Corporation (GREC), one of the community organizations that fought for affordable housing to be built on this site for forty years.
Those at the rally stressed this is not about denying the unhoused shelter, it’s about preventing more from entering homelessness. NYC is in a homeless crisis and an affordable housing crisis. These two issues are more than a correlation, there is causation. According to the Coalition for the Homeless’ State of the Homeless 2026, the affordable housing crisis and the burden of rent are factors in the rise of homelessness.
Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso stated at the rally, “We’re supposedly in a housing crisis. People don’t have homes. We have the largest population of people in homeless shelters in this entire city’s history. And we have a solution. And they’re going to slow that solution down because they’re looking at papers and numbers and not at people. I want to be very clear this is not an anti-homeless rally. This district has taken its fair share of people that need housing. Community Board 1 consistently approves homeless shelters in this district. We want to take care of our homeless brothers and sisters. Many of these units you are seeing here are for people that are homeless to find them permanent housing. We support that. We always will. So let us finish the supportive housing that will let us move families into permanent space instead of continuing to have them move around and not be able to find a home. We want to provide homes to the homeless and that’s why we’re here today.”
There is another obstacle created by this delay, a literal obstacle. For as long as DHS maintains control of the old shelter building, the section of Skillman Avenue that it sits on can’t be turned into a pedestrian plaza for the community.
The community coalition is calling on the NYC Department of Homeless Services to: provide transparency and accountability in communications with North Brooklyn residents, community leaders, and elected officials; commit to a clear, concrete timeline for vacating the Greenpoint Hospital site and advancing its redevelopment into affordable housing for seniors and families; move out truck parking and laundry uses, which prevent the affordable housing project from going forward.
“That’s why this is a very urgent issue,” said Frank Lang, director of affordable housing policy and advocacy for St. Nicks Alliance. He added that the second building to be finished on the campus would soon start marketing on NYC Housing Connect. That building will hold 300 affordable units: 93 will be for the formerly homeless, and the remainder will serve as homes for singles and families. Construction is estimated to be finished by the end of 2026.
Community members emphasize that the Kingsland Commons plan reflects a balanced approach as it addresses both the urgent need for shelter and the long-term necessity of affordable housing.
“This protest is about preserving the future of affordable housing and ensuring the community is not left in the dark about decisions that affect our neighborhood,” said Debra Benders, president of the Cooper Park Resident Association. “It’s about giving us the space that we need for seniors and affordable housing for anybody that could be homeless.”
For more information or to sign the petition, visit: https://www.change.org/p/east-williamsburg-community-residents-in-support-of-affordable-senior-housing-development
The Greenline 