Queens Residents Protest Placement Of Homeless Families In Old Pan-Am Hotel
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Queens residents gathered Tuesday to protest a new homeless shelter in their backyard.
The Department of Homeless Services has moved close to 200 homeless families into the old Pan-Am Hotel in East Elmhurst and plan on moving in more.
Residents said that they were never informed of the move and feel that it was underhanded.
"We should be careful not to direct misguided anger towards the homeless. We must direct our outrage towards such a flawed process," New York State Senate Candidate S.J. Jung said.
"Residents said that their community needs more schools, not shelters.
The Department of Homeless Services issued a statement saying that they would like to see the community embrace the new residents.
"We continue to have a dialogue with the community, and hope they embrace families with children who are rebuilding their lives," department spokesman Christopher Miller said.
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