Tuesday evening the Albany Planning Board held another session to consider the Capital City Rescue Mission’s proposed $6 million expansion, which includes building a dormitory with housing for more than 200 people.
Neighbors and local businesses in the vicinity of the shelter at 257 South Pearl Street have long complained about drug use, vagrancy, prostitution and theft they believe is associated with the Mission. The shelter is looking to add about 31,000-square-feet to its present building.
Albany County Legislator Sam Fein lives on nearby Grand Street. He says the mission should never have been allowed to open a stones' throw from Giffen Memorial Elementary School.
"I think we all know this wouldn't have ever been approved in a more affluent neighborhood, in a white neighborhood," Fein said. "Well, I think it makes absolutely no sense because of that, to expand it. You know, the mission should move, but at a minimum, we should not be expanding the Mission there. You know, there's overconcentration, already have services in the South End. You know, people talked tonight about how this impacts the area economically, that corridor on South Pearl Street, businesses can't survive, businesses are leaving. And a large part of that is the mission."
A Block at a Time founder Dannielle Hille lives a few streets away. She testified at the meeting that annual reports posted on the City Mission's website show the facility is currently under-utilizing two new buildings.
Hille tells WAMC the opposition is not against those experiencing homelessness or their ability to live safely and with dignity. She says the Mission needs to be a better neighbor before talking about expansion.
"They need to learn how to better deal with their guests, to make sure that them, that the Mission and their guests, are good neighbors to the rest of the neighborhood, that they're not causing harm to our children," Hille said. "One of the speakers said, it was absolutely perfect, 'Our children should not have to walk through despair every day. They should not have to start their day with despair.' And in any other neighborhood, this would not have been allowed that close to a school. That's not in the best interest of our children. And, you know, the community needs to push harder this time to ensure that we do not continue to be harmed by the City Mission's lack of responsibility."
Daniel Hershberg of the law firm Hershberg & Hershberg represented the mission at the Board Meeting.
"The Capital City Rescue Mission has been there for a long time on the corner of Arch and South Pearl [and] has expanded over the years," Hershberg said. "Other facilities actually run by Capital City Rescue Mission are subsidiaries of within the area that also have the same goal. There are housing for women housing for women and children. Those are similar facilities. So I guess the question of consistency with the neighborhood is a function of what you're consistent with, certainly consistent with other uses in the immediate area. So basically, we do not believe that this rises to the level of needing a positive declaration and environmental impact statement.”
Nonetheless, the next step for the expansion is an environmental impact review.
Hille says there will be more opportunities for community outreach and public comments. She says officials spin up a positive narrative about the mission by omitting negative effects on the community.
"Concentrating vulnerable populations is not in the best interest of that population," said Hille. "It's even further compounded by concentrating a vulnerable population in a disadvantaged area. So expansion of the Mission is neither good for the individuals who stay at the Mission, nor is it good for the community around it."
Mission Director Perry Jones could not be reached for comment. The planning board next meets August 23rd.
