Leaks, open showers and blocked visits: Council grills city over Borden Avenue veterans shelter in Long Island City

City Council members spent hours Wednesday questioning city officials about conditions at the Borden Avenue Veterans Residence in Long Island City, a shelter that houses about 200 veterans experiencing homelessness, at a joint oversight hearing of the Committees on Veterans and General Welfare, QNS and NY1 reported.

The shelter is run by the nonprofit Institute for Community Living, or ICL, on behalf of the city. Residents and elected officials have complained for years about a leaking roof, communal showers with no privacy, poor food and a lack of security. Veterans told NY1 they sleep on plastic mattresses and pointed to parts of the building covered in tarps.

What the city promised

• Showers: Department of Social Services Commissioner Erin Dalton said partitions will go up between all 32 showers within the next six to eight weeks, NY1 reported. ICL CEO Jody Rudin said they would be installed by the end of the year, according to QNS. Council Member Julie Won, whose district includes the shelter, called the open showers "inhumane."
• Roof: Rudin acknowledged the leaks have gone on for years; ICL is using tarps and buckets and seven beds are out of service. Dalton said no one sleeps in an area with a leak. A $4.3 million capital project will replace the roof, starting in 2027 and running through the end of 2029, which committee members said was too slow.

The federal money

Last month the city said it had pulled out of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Grant and Per Diem program, which had provided about $4 million a year for the shelter. The VA offered up to $1.3 million this year, NY1 reported. Dalton said accepting the money would have required the city to turn away transgender veterans, violating state and local anti-discrimination laws, and that the Department of Homeless Services will use city tax dollars to keep services and beds in place. Michael Matos of the advocacy group Five Borough Veterans told NY1 he worries the change could delay repairs.

Committee on Veterans chair Frank Morano said the number of homeless veterans in the city is nearly 700, down from more than 1,500 in 2015 but up from nearly 500 in 2022.

The fight over access

The hearing came weeks after Won and Council Member Phil Wong were kept from entering the shelter for an unannounced inspection at the end of September. They and other members accused DSS of trying to make elected officials sign nondisclosure agreements and of staging a clean-up before Dalton's scheduled visit on Oct. 7. Dalton said the agreements cover only residents' identifying information and that officials need DSS permission to tour. General Welfare chair Crystal Hudson said Council members have the authority to make unannounced inspections, QNS reported.