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Mamdani will close NYC's largest homeless shelter for men, citing disrepair
By
Karen Yi
Published Mar 5, 2026
Modified Mar 5, 2026
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Beyond My Ken via Wikimedia Commons (CC-BY-SA-4.0)
By
Karen Yi
Published Mar 5, 2026
Modified Mar 5, 2026
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The Mamdani administration will empty out a hulking men’s homeless shelter in Midtown and relocate its 250 residents by mid-March, city officials told Gothamist.
The city-owned Bellevue shelter on East 30th Street, which doubles as the point of entry for single men and adult families seeking emergency shelter in New York City, is in a serious state of disrepair and will undergo a major redevelopment, a city official said.
In the meantime, the site’s intake centers will be moved elsewhere in Manhattan, and several new shelters will open over the next six months, the official said.
“My administration is focused on ensuring every New Yorker experiencing homelessness not only has access to shelter, but to spaces that are safe, humane and truly livable,” Mayor Zohran Mamdani said in a statement.
“We cannot accept a system that treats people without dignity or stability,” he added. “As we move forward, our city will double down on protecting the safety, continuity and quality of services — because every New Yorker deserves a secure place to rest, to recover and to rebuild their life with dignity.”
The shelter's closure comes as the Mamdani administration faces pressure to address high rates of homelessness, bring more New Yorkers living on the street into shelters or homes, and expand rental assistance to many more people living in shelters. It also comes as his new social services commissioner, Erin Dalton, starts in her role, which involves overseeing the city’s sprawling shelter system.
People enter the Bellevue shelter in Midtown on March 5, 2026.
Karen Yi / Gothamist
Mamdani quickly ramped up the city’s emergency bed stock during this winter's brutal cold snap, opening 300 nontraditional shelters called Safe Havens to convince more street-homeless New Yorkers to come indoors. Safe Havens have fewer rules than traditional shelters, such as no strict curfews.
Homeless advocates have long argued that moving away from huge shelter sites is an effective way to help more people transition out of homelessness. They say the large sites are often plagued by violence, while smaller sites, like Safe Havens, can offer more privacy and support for residents.
Dave Giffen, executive director of the nonprofit advocacy group Coalition for the Homeless, said he was worried about the fast timeline.
“There's broad knowledge out there among people who are homeless that that's where you go when you need to access the shelter system,” he said. “Changing that kind of knowledge among people who are experiencing homelessness is not something you can do overnight, so we're very, very concerned about the very short turnaround time.”
The Bellevue shelter once housed Bellevue Hospital’s psychiatric ward, until it was converted into emergency housing for single men in 1984. The massive site dates back to 1931 and can accommodate up to 850 people.
The aging property has amassed multiple fire safety concerns and code violations and is notorious for violence. Parts of the building have been closed due to facility issues.
The Bloomberg administration also tried to shutter the site and the city’s Economic Development Corporation tried to turn it into a luxury hotel and conference center in 2008. It later abandoned those plans.
At the time, advocates were outraged that the city wanted to relocate the “front door” where homeless men ask for shelter, and move the intake site to Crown Heights. Advocates argued that, because most street-homeless people reside in Manhattan, they would be less likely to travel to Brooklyn to seek shelter.
A sign for intake services at the Bellevue shelter
Karen Yi / Gothamist
It’s not yet clear what the Bellevue site will become, as the city said plans were still under discussion. But the building is slated to close fully by the end of April.
Giffen said he wants the city to commit to keeping the site — a valuable piece of Manhattan real estate — for homeless services.
“ We have concerns that once they shut this down, that there's going to be pressures to not return it to this function. And that would be a tragic mistake,” he said.
The Mamdani administration said intake for homeless men would be relocated to 8 East Third St. and to 333 Bowery for adult families, beginning on May 1. All remaining residents at Bellevue will be moved to a Brooklyn shelter, until more permanent placements are found.
As an intake facility, Bellevue is supposed to shelter residents temporarily, until the city finds them permanent placements. City officials say residents at intake shelters stay for an average of three weeks, but homeless advocates say many men have remained at Bellevue for months longer.
The city said it plans to maintain the same number of beds across the shelter system, where more than 85,000 people sleep every night, including about 18,000 single men, according to city data.
The Mamdani administration also recently announced plans to close the last remaining megashelter for migrants in the South Bronx by the end of the year and transition those residents to traditional shelters run by the Department of Homeless Services.
This story has been updated with additional information.
Tagged
Bellevue Shelter
Zohran Mamdani
homelessness
manhattan
midtown
midtown east
new york city
Karen Yi
Karen Yi covers homelessness and poverty. She joined the WNYC and Gothamist newsroom in 2020. Before that, Karen covered Newark for the Star-Ledger and spent almost a decade working for newspapers in New Jersey and Florida. She grew up in Miami and has a dog named Cashew. Got a tip? Email [email protected] or Signal 917-589-1460.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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