The lawsuit was filed by the resident group VOICE, which argues that the city failed to comply with its own laws and codes in the relocation.
After 70 percent of the East Village in the Big Apple voted for socialist New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani in the 2025 election, the residents are now suing their mayor. Their reason? Mamdani's government decided to relocate the notorious Bellevue men's homeless shelter to their neighborhood.
The lawsuit was filed on Monday and seeks an emergency restraining order that would halt the "rushed" opening of the shelter set to take place on May 1. A judge in New York has granted the pause. An order came down from Judge Sabrina Kraus enjoining the Mamdani administration from relocating the shelter on Wednesday.
The location, selected by City Hall for the project, would be one of two intake shelters in Manhattan and would replace the Bellevue shelter, which has been plagued by criminality and drug use. The lawsuit alleges that the decision was made "hastily" as Mamdani has sought to close the Midtown shelter location.
“This case is not about the City’s decision to close the Bellevue Intake Shelter," the lawsuit stated. “It challenges only the City’s hastily made and legally invalid decision to [locate] a new citywide homeless adult male intake center at 8 East 3rd Street without following any of the legal requirements that must precede such a significant and consequential decision.”
After announcing the shutdown of the Bellevue shelter in Midtown, city officials said that single men would be staying at the East Village facility. Locals, however, have railed against the decision to bring the shelter to the East Village.
"The City finalized this decision on March 5, 2026, without any prior notice to the community, or opportunity for it to be heard, and without any of these legally mandated reviews, in violation of the public's right to participate and be heard in advance in connection with decisions of this magnitude. It was not until after this decision was announced that earlier this month, the City finally held a single community Q&A session at which it disclosed, for the first time, some of the details of its plan—and at which City officials were unable to answer basic questions about budget, population size, duration of stays, community impact, and consideration of alternatives," the lawsuit alleged.
“None of you all can stop drinking and drugging … and all lingering around here creating crimes and all kinds of stuff,” Rev. Keith Gadson, one of the hundreds of locals at an April 7 meeting, said, per the New York Post. “Put it in your neighborhood!”
The lawsuit was filed by the resident group VOICE (Village Organization for the Integrity of Community Engagement), which argues that the city failed to comply with its own laws and codes by seeking to put the shelter in the East Village. The portion of the city is already scattered with shelters, and public facilities are supposed to be equitably spread throughout the city.
“We have taken action to stop this dangerous and unnecessarily rushed non-emergency emergency plan for several reasons,” said Caleb Berger, an East Village local. “I truly feel for these men, but should the lone intake facility for homeless men for the entire city be located on a tight residential block? I fear this rushed decision is jeopardizing both the safety of my neighbors and of these men themselves.”
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