י״ד אייר ה׳תשפ״ו | April 30, 2026
Amid Battle, 328-Unit Homeless Shelter Opens In Crown Heights
As residents battle the opening of the ‘Mega’ Homeless Shelter in Crown Heights, another “smaller” shelter with 328 units has opened, to house at-risk youth aging out of foster care, formerly unhoused populations (Homeless), and formerly incarcerated individuals (Criminals).
Clarkson Estates development site in collaboration with CAMBA Housing Ventures (CHV) at 329 Clarkson Avenue near New York Avenue bordering Crown Heights, East Flatbush, and Prospect Lefferts Gardens, has just opened a new local Homeless Shelter through the State’s Vital Brooklyn ‘initiative.’
Vital Brooklyn offers a holistic approach to uplifting “underserved” neighborhoods in Central Brooklyn and focuses on key areas of improvement, such as Homeless shelters.
This week at the Brooklyn Community Board 9 (CB9) monthly general meeting, NYS Assembly candidate for district 43, Ahron Gluck, stated: “Despite all the support that Assembly member Brian Cunningham does to bring multiple homeless shelters in his district, but when it comes to opening a homeless shelter on the same block of his district office, all of sudden he is against it, despite the fact the the Empire Boulevard homeless shelter, along with Assemblyman Cunningham’s office isn’t even located within the borders of his district and it is located in a neighboring assembly district.”
The property at 329 Clarkson Avenue was formerly a one-story parking garage adjacent to SUNY Downstate Medical Center and has just completed construction. The $238 million public-private investment will create 328 sustainable, permanently ‘supportive’ homes for at-risk youth aging out of foster care, low-income, formerly unhoused populations (Homeless), and formerly incarcerated individuals (Criminals).
The shelter is one block away from the Anash Shul located in Downstate, where local residents daven. There are currently about 100 Anash families in the area and growing.
CAMBA, Inc. is a Brooklyn-based nonprofit organization that provides social services to New Yorkers in need and will be managing this Homeless Shelter with onsite supportive services such as:
Mental health & wellbeing groups.
Mental health & wellness programming.
24/7 front desk security to enhance safety (so the shelter residents commit crimes “outside”)
Free Wi-Fi in all units and common areas.
Fully-furnished units for formerly unhoused humans.
Violence Prevention Center.
The 9-story brick and metal panel, contextual building has a double-height lobby and a Passive House and transit-oriented development. Clarkson Estates won funding from HCR’s Clean Energy Initiative for a reduced ecological footprint. The development will have a transformative ‘impact’ on Crown Heights, its residents, our car windows, Amazon packages, and issues towards the community at large.
Publicly stated on his campaign website, before being elected to the New York State Assembly, Brian Cunningham was employed by CAMBA. Assemblyman Cunningham attended and was honored at the groundbreaking of this CAMBA homeless shelter development, with the shelter operators thanking Cunningham for his assistance.
Both Jewish and African American residents who live in the PLG section (Prospect Lefferts Gardens) of East Flatbush have been attempting to halt this homeless shelter for over two years and feel betrayed that the Assembly office of Brian Cunningham is supporting this dangerous, disastrous, and reckless development.
CAMBA currently manages “Camba Gardens ||” a notorious Homeless shelter located at 560 Winthrop Street between Kingston Ave and Albany Ave, near Kings County Hospital. With it’s shelter residents causing crime, violence, mayhem and destruction throughout the neighborhood on a daily basis. Multiple violent local incidents has been linked back to ‘transitional residents’ of this homeless shelter including stabbings and shootings.
NYS Assembly candidate Ahron Gluck, who’s looking to represent the district, stated:
“CAMBA’s policy is to help their (tax-funded) clients from ‘survival to stability and success.’ It is extremely generous of Assemblyman Cunningham for offering to place violent, dangerous gang members that were just released early from Rikers Island due to liberal policies, in our daled amos and try to make them into a ‘success.'”
“If you want gang members from Rikers Island roaming our community, you can vote for Cunningham. But if you want an Assembly member who will do everything within his power to try his best to shut down the continuous flow of Homeless shelters over-saturating our neighborhood – then I’m your candidate,” Gluck concluded.
This Homeless shelter is three blocks away from the proposed 1,100-bed ‘Mega’ homeless shelter that Assemblyman Cunningham quietly sponsored legislation approving the infamous shelter into our neighborhood despite major opposition from the local residents.
For Crown Heights and East Flatbush residents to vote for a member of anash, Ahron Gluck, in this year’s Democratic primary election so he can try to stop the homeless shelter, you must be registered to vote as a Democrat:
https://e-register.vote.nyc/
The new building
COMMENTS
Assemb Brian Cunningham recently comment said the following on X about this article:
“This article is irresponsible and misleading. This development is not a homeless shelter. It is supportive housing for young people who deserve stability, dignity, and a real chance at adulthood.”
https://x.com/NYAMCunningham/status/2050252864690557298
However, the Clarkson Estates General Project Plan does describe the supportive units as being targeted for the homeless or those at risk of homelessness:
“The Proposed Project will facilitate the construction of affordable and supportive housing
in Prospect Lefferts Gardens, including housing for homeless youth aging out of foster
care, homeless young adults, formerly incarcerated homeless individuals, chronically
homeless families, and low income families in a significantly underserved portion of
Central Brooklyn. ” https://esd.ny.gov/sites/default/files/Clarkson-Estates-General-Project-Plan.pdf , p. 5, Section C, top of page.
This project is a “A residential building with a total of approximately 328 affordable housing units,
approximately half of which would be permanent supportive housing”. Ibid, p. 3, III, Bullet point 1
“Empire State Supportive Housing Initiative (ESSHI) service funding and rental subsidy is assumed for 79 units for youth aging out of foster care, homeless young adults, and formerly incarcerated individuals. CAMBA has an excellent track record securing ESSHI funding…”
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/p54mnbimkgkpq96m5sokj/Clarkson-Estates-Original-Proposal.pdf?rlkey=lctjlupcfjrzhnkn20diul9m0&e=2&dl=0 – See page 13 of original CAMBA proposal from April 30, 2019
Keep in mind, the 79 units (30%) in the original 2019 proposal were increased to half of the 328 units for the final April 18, 2022 General Project Plan. (https://esd.ny.gov/sites/default/files/Clarkson-Estates-General-Project-Plan.pdf , p. 2, III, Bullet point 1 – 50% supportive housing percentage)
What justified the jump to 50% supportive housing units, from 30%?
( https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/p54mnbimkgkpq96m5sokj/Clarkson-Estates-Original-Proposal.pdf?rlkey=lctjlupcfjrzhnkn20diul9m0&e=2&dl=0 – p10, B1 – 30% supportive homeless housing percentage in 2019 Original Proposal_ )
A deeper look at the EESHI gives more light into it’s requirements.
Empire State Supportive Housing Initiative (ESSHI) describes the following tenant eligibility criteria:
“The eligible target populations to be served under this program are families or individuals who are both homeless (see below for definition) and who are identified as having an unmet housing need….”
https://shnny.org/fundingguide/nys-empire-state-supportive-housing-initiative-esshi/ – 10/10/23 – this is a match for the target populations described in the Clarkson Estates General Project Plan.
https://shnny.org/fundingguide/supportive-housing-opportunity-program-shop – NYS HCR Supportive Housing requires homelessness or the risk of it
https://shnny.org/fundingguide/homeless-housing-assistance-program-hhap1 – NYS OTDA Supportive Housing requires homelessness or the risk of it
All the above programs requires homelessness or risk of homelessness as criteria. Think of it, if a person has another place to stay or can pay rent, why should they take the place of someone who is homeless or at risk of homeless. The issue is the percentages in these buildings and why the homeless are being segregated in one street.
So if the 110 transitional shelter for the homeless down the road at 781 Clarkson calls itself a shelter, is 164 beds funded for homeless individuals who need shelter or they will be out on the streets not also a shelter for the homeless? https://www.breakingground.org/our-housing/east-flatbush
Comment by Jay Sorid
Jewish and Black individuals spoke out recently at the recent April’26 Brooklyn Community Board 9 about another new proposed homeless facility coming to Empire Blvd near Bedford Ave, at the Ramanda Inn location.
( Clarkson Estates is located at 329 Clarkson Ave, between Nostrand & NY Ave)
Alicia Boyd keeps it real and follows the comment of Rabbi Jacob Goldstein – https://youtu.be/-QbkmHT-26A?t=2999
See also https://youtu.be/-QbkmHT-26A?t=1909
“It is vital that vulnerable groups are not mixed together, when considering the implementation of new
affordable housing. (i.e. – individuals with mental illness should not reside with the senior population).”, Diana Richardson’s 43rd Assembly Vital Brooklyn Community Proposal , p. 12, Bullet Point 7
https://assembly.state.ny.us/write/upload/member_files/043/pdfs/20180606_81884.pdf
Who speaks for the foster kids, who are down on their luck and now are mixed with ex-cons leaving Rikers?
Will the teenage foster girl, who aged out of foster care look to an ex-con from the jails as a father figure?
Will the teenage boy look to a criminal for parental guidance ?
Will they foster kids be safe ?
Former Assemb Diana RIchardson warned against this, but it’s happening.
And instead of speaking out for the kids who will be in harms way, we are battling about which politically correct word to use…should we use homeless? supportive housing ? the unhoused?…..
Does anyone care about the foster kids who are going to be living side by side with a prison population when the foster kids’ only crime was not having parents who stuck around.
Let’s see if any politician tweets about that.
https://charities-search.ag.ny.gov/RegistrySearch/21-44-48 – the CAMBA IRS tax return filed in 2026 for 2023 lists the top two executives making over $550,000 each, followed by the next two execs making over $400,000.
I don’t think the highly paid executives are going to be living near Clarkson Ave with those salaries.
Third times a charm – here are CAMBA’s two prior new supportive homeless facilities built
a) 690 & 738 Albany Ave (2011) – ( West side of Albany by Clarkson to Winthrop)
this has 146 supportive housing units serving the following populations:
i) 117 units for chronically homeless single adults w/ a serious and persistent mental illness.
ii) 15 units for chronically homeless single adults with a substance abuse disorder.
iii) 14 units for chronically homeless families where the head of household suffers from a
substance abuse disorder, a disabling medical condition, or HIV/AIDS
The remaining 53 units would be affordable housing
CAMBA Gardens EAS Statement, p. 21, bottom par, (May 2011)
https://a002-ceqraccess.nyc.gov/Handlers/ProjectFile.ashx?file=MjAxMVwxMUhQRDAxMUtcZWFzXDExSFBEMDExS19FQVNfMDUxOTIwMTEucGRm0&signature=00cd5a6e72ccedcef6ae0af0b58416c3bab1d242
This building originally was supposed to be a laboratory with jobs but the deal fell through,
https://a002-ceqraccess.nyc.gov/Handlers/ProjectFile.ashx?file=MjAxNFwxNEhQRDAyOUtcbGVhZF9hZ2VuY3lfbGV0dGVyXDE0SFBEMDI5S19MZWFkX0FnZW5jeV9MZXR0ZXJfMV8xMDA3MjAxMy5wZGY1&signature=817f4b0766035e3f4a58ed304ffbd78156227e9f – page 2, second paragraph
b) CAMBA Gardens – 560 Winthrop
“560 Winthrop Street would provide 175 units of supportive housing to formerly homeless people with special needs and 118 units of affordable housing for households earning no more than 60% of Area Median Income, ”
CAMBA Gardens EAS Short Form – 560 Winthrop , p. 11. (January, 2014)
https://a002-ceqraccess.nyc.gov/Handlers/ProjectFile.ashx?file=MjAxNFwxNEhQRDAyOUtcZWFzXDE0SFBEMDI5S19FQVNfMDIxMDIwMTQucGRm0&signature=01987fb35ae1a6622662ab43c3478fe51b0decc4
And they sold it to the real estate developer for $1, when Downstate(the seller) could have used it for research, producing jobs for community.
https://a836-acris.nyc.gov/DS/DocumentSearch/DocumentImageView?doc_id=2023041100941002 – Real Property Transfer Report see page 7, Item#12 – Sales price = $1