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Massive Midtown shelter is shutting, so homeless New Yorkers will ask for beds elsewhere
By
Karen Yi
Published Apr 19, 2026
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Karen Yi / Gothamist
By
Karen Yi
Published Apr 19, 2026
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The Mamdani administration will relocate where homeless New Yorkers can sign up for shelter beds in two weeks, as it quickly moves to shutter an aging Midtown facility and transfer those services elsewhere.
The massive men’s shelter on 30th Street that long served as the front door for single men and families without minor children needing beds for the night will fully close at the end of the month. Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced the closure of the Bellevue shelter in March, citing the building’s decaying infrastructure and desire to create more livable spaces for the city’s homeless.
Starting May 1, homeless men will instead need to ask for shelter at 8 East Third St, while families without dependent children will go to 333 Bowery.
The effort is part of the Mamdani administration’s goals of improving shelter conditions for the city’s homeless population and convincing more New Yorkers living on the street to come indoors.
But advocates for homeless people say the city is moving too fast and the new intake facility for men won’t be ready to properly serve the most vulnerable New Yorkers.
Dave Giffen, executive director of the Coalition for the Homeless, said his concerns center around the new intake location for single men, which is currently a men’s shelter that offers substance abuse treatment and operates a health clinic. He said it’s not accessible to people with mobility impairments, adding that there’s only one working elevator in the building and it's not ADA accessible.
“If your intake is not accessible then you are effectively denying shelter to homeless New Yorkers, which is a violation of the law,” Giffen said. “The city basically has no plan in place for how they are going to utilize this in a way that will not cause harm to our clients.”
A recent court settlement requiring the city to ensure its facilities are ADA compliant mandates the city provide accessible placements for homeless New Yorkers.
About 16% of the single adult homeless population needs to be placed in an accessible shelter, Giffen said.
"If you show up in a wheelchair, there is no way for you to safely access that building,” he said.
The Department of Homeless Services didn’t immediately answer questions about the new men’s intake center’s accessibility. But officials did share a FAQ document targeted to the community, which stated that the city planned to hire 70 additional staff for the new intake sites and was completing construction that will outfit the facilities to improve accessibility, including a ramp.
The two sites will be open and staffed 24/7. Department of Homeless Services officials said they don't expect a line to form outside. Last week about 80 men sought shelter each day at Bellevue, advocates said.
The men’s intake center at 8 East Third St. will have 117 beds where men will typically stay for less than 24 hours before they're relocated to assessment beds or placed in a more long-term facility. The intake center for families without dependent children at 333 Bowery will have 70 so-called assessment beds where residents will stay an average of three weeks before they are secured a longer-term placement in a shelter.
The new men’s intake center is already home to a federally qualified health clinic that is open to the public regardless of their ability to pay. City officials say that will remain at the location, and continue to be operated by the nonprofit Project Renewal.
City officials say the long-term goal is to build a new intake facility, designed specifically to help homeless individuals experiencing trauma. The city recently opened such a location for homeless women seeking shelter at 114 Snediker Ave. in East New York.
That site is run by the nonprofit Help USA and includes some private rooms, a medical clinic, a lactation room, an art therapy room, a courtyard for gardening and a fully operating professional kitchen, where staff can prepare fresh meals.
Tagged
economy
homelessness
manhattan
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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