U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Alan Gropper had originally turned down a request by the owners of the 335-room Best Western Hotel to authorize a takeover of the site by the Salvation Army for use as a shelter.

Gropper reversed his decision after Manhattan real estate investors Robert and Eric Hadar (the owners) withdrew their objection to the plan. The Hadars attorney, Scott Markowitz, argued that "the city has a real need to house" homeless families. Markowitz noted that City Comptroller William Thompson issued a 90-day emergency letter citing the shortage of family shelters citywide and the city’s need to find housing for them.

Under the plan, the site will be leased to the Salvation Army, which will operate the shelter under the Tier 2 program. That means that 10 or more families will be housed at the site until they find permanent housing. The City Department of Homeless Services will pay the owners $72 per day per room. Social and employment services are provided to families under the Tier 2 program.

According to court papers, the Salvation Army will loan a $2 million start-up fee to the Hadar-owned JFK Acquisition Corp., to kick-start the shelter’s operation.

Gropper, on Friday, June 28, ordered that the partnership can enter into the lease agreement with the Salvation Army.

Queens Borough President Helen Marshall gathered with area residents and local legislators on Monday, July 1, to "call on the City to abandon its plan to shelter homeless families in a hotel, located in an area saturated with such facilities."

Marshall rallied against the decision, charging that Gropper approved the plan "solely to allow the entity, JFK Acquisitions, to satisfy its creditors.

"While we are concerned about the plight of homeless families, we cannot stand by and watch them warehoused in a totally inappropriate site that is near the epicenter of an economic development renaissance," said Marshall, noting JFK and Jamaica are the focus of numerous ongoing capital projects.

"This population in need of shelter includes rooms and children who require the same services every family does," said Marshall. Where are the school seats, the parks, playgrounds, day care facilities and libraries in this are?"

Marshall also said that she has grave concerns that the hotel does not meet the criteria for Tier 2 shelters and also its proximity to nearby hotels. "This hotel is too big with too few services," said the Borough President. "It would be an institution, not a home."

According to research conducted by her office, Marshall stated that an individual standing in the center of Community Board 12, where the Best Western is located, would be within approximately 2.5 miles of 12 homeless shelters. "The Best Western is within two miles of the Saratoga Interfaith Inn, which shelters almost 250 homeless families. This is over saturation. Community Board 12 – which in the past has always opened its arms to those in need – already has seven homeless facilities," she said.

Area residents, backed by a coalition of community organizations, vowed to stop the use of the hotel as a shelter.

Residents stood by, angrily voicing their concerns and protest to Groppers decision as Salvation Army trucks pulled into the hotel parking lot on July, delivering furniture and equipment to the site. The first families are expected to be housed there this week, according to sources at the City’s Department of Homeless Services (DHS).

Hundreds gathered in front of the recently converted homeles shelter to voice their opposition. PRESS Photos By Ira Cohen

DHS spokesman James Anderson told the Press that most of the city’s homeless shelters are located in Manhattan, Brooklyn and the Bronx.

Anderson said the new shelter "is located in an area that has approximately one-third of all homeless shelters in Queens."

Residents vowed to stop the shelter, citing a possible decrease of property value – as well as concerns that the site will create drug and prostitution problems found at other shelter sites.

Homeowners rallied outside the shelter on Wednesday, July 3rd to voice their protest.

Marshall said she would support any legal action on the part of the South East Queens Concerned Neighbors Organization to stop the use of the hotel as a shelter.

City Councilman Allan Jennings, the group on the steps of City Hall Monday, called on Mayor Michael Bloomberg to stop the conversion of the hotel.

"Southeast Queens is just beginning to experience a surge in economic development, "Jennings said, "with six hotels in the area, serving JFK Airport; this shelter would greatly detract from this progress."

The plans to spend $14 million to renovate the hotel is so the Salvation Army can operate the Tier II homeless shelter. Tier II shelters are transition, requiring residents to move in and out every 30 days.

Jennings stressed that he also has the best interest of the City’s homeless families in mind when suggesting alternatives to the transitional facility.

"It makes no business sense to pay over $72 a day for a family to live in a 14 by 15 foot room," Jennings said. "For $2,150 a month, we should be putting families in apartments with Section 8 vouchers, giving them more space and more housing stability, while also saving the tax payers money by providing more cost-effective lodging."

Jennings, who was a mortgage banker before joining the Council in January, has contacted several private investors who are interested in buying the Best Western so it can remain a regular hotel.

Congressman Gregory Meeks who attended Monday’s press conference, said Jennings and his colleagues "have really come together to make sure this shelter is stopped."

"I can only praise their work in coming together for the removal of this facility," Meeks added.