For this price, the city could put the homeless in doorman buildings.
The Department of Homeless Services pays a nonprofit run by a former commissioner of the agency an astounding $3,700 a month for Upper West Side rooms without bathrooms or kitchens — even more than luxury apartments in the neighborhood cost, a new lawsuit claims.
The agency shells out a whopping $122.80 a night for each Freedom House room to Aguila Inc., a Bronx nonprofit run by former DHS chief Robert Hess.
“I could find my own apartment way cheaper than that! I could get a three-bedroom,” said Bilal Cherry, 50, who lives with his wife in the West 95th Street shelter off Riverside Drive. “It’s moldy in some spots. It’s got a smell on some floors.”
Neighbors who complain of increased litter and a urine stench on the block since the shelter opened also bashed the high cost.
“I think it’s a little bit ludicrous that the city is spending this much on an SRO with no bathroom. For $3,700, you could get a very nice one-bedroom in a lot of nice neighborhoods,” said neighbor Charles Goldfine, 63.
Indeed, a one-bedroom in a doorman building averages about $3,277, and a studio averages about $2,400, according to real-estate appraisal expert Jonathan Miller.
Some local leaders criticized the alleged back-room dealing they say led then-Homeless Services Commissioner Seth Diamond to hand a five-year contract worth $47 million to Aguila last year.
“It’s outrageous and stinks of cronyism,” a local Community Board 7 member fumed.
The lawsuit, filed in Manhattan Supreme Court by Neighbors in the Nineties, accuses the DHS and the city of intentionally keeping the community in the dark that the building was being turned into a homeless shelter last year so no argument could be raised.
“We think that the number is clearly outrageous and doesn’t serve any proper purpose, either for the homeless individuals themselves or for the neighborhood,” said Nineties lawyer Stewart Wurtzel.
“The [DHS] acted like a battering ram,” charged CB7 Chair Mark Diller, who said the agency gave just a week’s notice of the homeless influx.
The city said the $3,700 per month figure includes not just rent but also social services and security.
“The daily rate of $122.80, which is per room, is far from including only rent. Social services, security, housing specialists, employment assistance and other services are available to help clients transition back as quickly as possible to independent living in the community,” said DHS spokeswoman Heather Janik.
City Law Department attorney Haley Stein said the shelter “meets all applicable laws, and we will evaluate the [lawsuit’s] claims and respond to them at the appropriate time.”
But local Councilwoman Gale Brewer said, “People need rent money, not someone getting $3,700 for a tiny little room that supposedly comes with services but really doesn’t.”
Aguila Inc. declined to comment.
Additional reporting by Matt Abrahams