Savemurrayhillnyc

01/18/2021

UPDATE: As many know, The Renwick Hotel on East 40th Street is still slated to become the 16th homeless shelter in Murray Hill. It will accommodate app 350 new shelter residents. We now believe that the 1920s hotel may not be up to ADA standards or Fire Safety codes. We've received no response from the state or city about these facts. What can you do? Have 5 friends sign the petition and write your public officials. The link to the petition is below and the link to a list of officials can be found at savemurrayhillnyc.org. Thank you. http://chng.it/2VwrNnZt

Save Murray Hill - Stop The Renwick From Becoming The Poorly Planned 16th Shelter

01/07/2021

All of us are concerned about the new super-shelter being planned for the Renwick. We now also believe there may be building safety issues that come from turning a hotel built in the 1920s to a modern day “permanent family shelter”. NYC has not responded to our FOIL request, and the politicians we have asked have told us there is "nothing to worry about." This is addition to the backdrop fact that there are already 15 shelters, including Bellevue, in our neighborhood.

For those of you who are concerned about the Renwick proposal, please help by doing something about it.

1. Speak at a community board meeting on Wednesday, January 13, 2021 at 7:00PM. You can do so by registering at https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_kXL0nJNaR2iJDDyFUXax-Q and emailing [email protected] your intention to speak. You have to do both in order to be registered. You will only be allotted three minutes, but every speaker counts. If you need to clarify any speaking points, let someone at Save Murray Hill know and they will provide you with the help you need.

2. Write to public officials. They are all listed on Savemurrayhillnyc.org. Please provide your information on that site and the group will keep you alerted to any news regarding the Renwick and any actions that might be helpful.

3. Ask at least 10 of your friends and neighbors who care about New York to sign the petition at Change.org. https://bit.ly/39109Nd. Each time someone signs it, a public official is alerted. The group has 199 signatures thus far. Help them get to 1,000.

Thank you for being concerned neighbors and taking a role in the future of our neighborhood and city.

Save Murray Hill - Stop The Renwick From Becoming The Poorly Planned 16th Shelter

12/15/2020

If you love New York and want to see Murray Hill survive, please sign the petition to let the politicians and government officials know that. Then ask five other friends to sign it as well.

Save Murray Hill - Stop The Renwick From Becoming The Poorly Planned 16th Shelter

12/13/2020

Dear Neighbors,

Here is an update on what I have learned about the Renwick. While we were told at the November 16 meeting that the shelter would be opening on December 15, we have now learned that the plans have not received approval by at least one NYS agency that needs to sign off on the site and its program.

We have also been told about other shelters in our area and those have been listed on www.savemurrayhillnyc.org. In meantime, several of us have met with elected officials including Liz Krueger, Gail Brewer, Matt Borden of DHS, Keith Powers, and Community Board 6. CB6 sent a letter to NYC officials which also helps question the incomplete data, along with other issues. (Thank you to CB6). Still we need to do more, both to help the homeless and to ensure a safe neighborhood for all. I think both things are possible. What can each of you do to help?

Sign up at www.savemurrayhillnyc.org so that you receive future updates about meetings, letter writing activities and an upcoming petition that will be sent to elected and other NYC officials.

Please be sure to tell anyone who lives in your building as well as your building's management to do the same.

Consider speaking at the next Community Board meeting being held on January 13. While you will only be allowed 3-minutes, but it's useful for all of us to be heard. To sign up, Send a note to [email protected] and in one week, register at https://cbsix.org/meetings-calendar/ #, once CB6 updates their website, and also send a note with your request to speak to [email protected].

If you know of anyone who lives or works on East 40th Street between Park and Lexington, particularly anyone at 114 or 124 East 40th Street, please have them notify someone at savemurrayhillnyc.

The address is [email protected].
Please continue to write the elected officials listed on the SMH website. Every letter can make a difference.

This map represents the number of shelters in and around the historic neighborhood of Murray Hill. The city of New York just announced that on December 15th, 2020, a permanent homeless shelter for 170+ families will be installed in the former Renwick Hotel on East 40th Street, between Lexington a...

12/08/2020

A fact page has been added to the Save Murray Hill website that can easily be printed out and shared with your neighbors. It can be located at https://bit.ly/3n0iQpW. Please also be sure to sign up at savemurrayhillnyc.org for more details.

12/07/2020

While the elected officials and the New York City Department of Homeless Services make it quite difficult to see where the shelters are in the city, in the attached map, we've put together an overview of the ones we've located around Murray Hill. We have an extremely high density of shelters in our area, and using the Renwick Hotel as a shelter for 300+ people on a permanent basis, is a bad idea. This is a poorly planned concept, with no supporting data, and likely a knee-jerk and ill-informed reaction to finding an owner who needs a lessee for their available space.

We've also created an interactive map so if you push on any of the shelters, you'll get a better idea of the number of beds that are available in each shelter. The interactive map can be seen at the following link: https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/viewer?mid=1WHdGqOKaQGbZLz4iGLF8JWOtNQP2ODZd&ll=40.767756200078914%2C-73.93046996649693&z=13

As to what you can do, 1. please sign up at www.savemurrayhillnyc.org and we will let you know of any updates on the situation as soon as we have them, and 2. write your elected officials. It really does make a difference and only takes a few moments to send an email. Each letter makes a difference. All of there addresses are available at www.savemurrayhillnyc.org and 3. Be sure that your managing agent or building owner is also involved, signing up for mailings and contacting the elected officials.

12/04/2020

People have asked who they should write, and who can make a difference. The following 12 people can make a difference. Please send letters to each of them. Visit us at www.murrayhillnyc.org to learn more and to be alerted of changes or relevant events.

Elected Officials

Liz Krueger, State Senator– District 28
[email protected]
District Office:
211 E 43rd Street, Suite 1201
New York, NY 10017
212-490-9535
fax: 212-490-2151

Gale A. Brewer, Manhattan Borough President
[email protected]
1 Centre Street, 19th Floor
New York, NY 10007
212-531-1609
fax: 212 669-4305

Keith Powers, NYC Council Member
District Office:
211 East 43rd Street, New York, NY 10017
[email protected]
212-818-0580
fax: 212-818-0706

Carlina Rivera, NYC Council Member
254 East 4th Street
212-677-1077 phone
212-677-1990 fax
[email protected]

Andrew Cuomo Governor
Contact Governor at https://www.governor.ny.gov/content/governor-contact-form
Call 518-474-8390;option 2
New York State Office Building, Albany, NY 12224
fax: 518-474-3767

Dan Quart, NYS Assembly Member
District Office:
353 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10016
[email protected]
212-605-0937
fax: 212-605-9948

Carolyn Maloney, Congresswoman
https://maloney.house.gov/services/email-m
District Office:
1651 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10128-3679
212-860-0606
fax: 212-860-0704

Bill de Blasio, Mayor
[email protected]
or http://www1.nyc.gov/office-of-the-mayor/contact-the-mayor.page
City Hall, New York, NY 10007
212-788-3000
fax: 212-788-9711

Department of Homeless Services

Joslyn Carter, LCSW, Administrator, Office of the Commissioner
New York City Department of Homeless Services
33 Beaver Street, 17th Floor
New York, NY 10004
[email protected]
(212) 361-7963

Matthew Bordon
Assistant Commissioner of Government Affairs and External Relations at City of New York, Department of Homeless Services
33 Beaver Street, 17th Floor
New York, NY 10004
(929) 221 5852

Community Board Chairs

Kyle Athayde
Chair Manhattan Community Board Six
211 East 43rd Street, Suite 1404
New York, NY 10017
Phone: 212-319-3750
Email: [email protected] and copy the [email protected]

Vikki Barbero
Manhattan Community Board 5
450 7th Avenue, Rm. 2109
New York, NY 10123
Phone: 212-465-0907
Fax: 212-465-1628
Email: [email protected]

12/02/2020

Listen to how Matthew Borden, Assistant Commissioner of the New York City Department of Homeless, describes how the Fair Share process works. This meeting was held on November 16. The shelter we've been told will open on December 15. It sounds like the work that is meant to take place beforehand, is taking place after the city struck a deal with the Renwick. By the way, Borden seemed unable to access his camera on Zoom due to technical difficulties.

12/02/2020

We are a neighborhood of volunteers, who welcome lots of shelters and soup kitchens. This map represents the number of shelters in and around the historic neighborhood of Murray Hill. On November 17, the city of New York announced that in less than one month, on December 15th, a permanent homeless shelter for 350 people will be installed in the former Renwick Hotel on East 40th Street, between Lexington and Park Avenues. If this goes through, it will be the 10th shelter within a tiny neighborhood and one of the largest shelters of its type in New York City. While Community Board 6 was there and representatives from NYCDHS Current data was not shown at the meeting and those who attended were not permitted to ask direct questions.