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