Residents of Hamilton Heights-West Harlem are encouraged to attend an information meeting on the proposed NYC Health and Hospital Corporation project at 1727 Amsterdam Avenue, the current site of the Upper Manhattan Health Center, Amsterdam and W 145th.
The NYC Health & Hospital Corporation proposal would without public hearing and illegally circumventing development rules:
– Reduce vital existing healthcare services by demolishing the Upper Manhattan Mental Health Center
– Flood Hamilton Heights more with “supportive” housing adding large numbers of severely mentally ill or drug addicted residents
-SAY NO TO NYC AGAIN DUMPING ON HAMILTON HEIGHTS AND TO THE DESTRUCTION OF EXISTING SERVICES
Come join us to learn more about the project and about how we can speak out and resist.
Saturday, March 8, 2025 10:30 AM – 12:00 PM
Mount Zion Lutheran Church 421 W 145th Street (145 & Convent Avenue)
LET OUR VOICES BE HEARD!
Sponsored by the West Harlem Community Preservation Organization, a coalition of neighborhood organizations
ADVOCACY ACTION: Share information
The West Harlem Community Preservation (WestHarlemCPO) position template. Customize if you wish to include your voice in support.
Dear ____,
As a concerned Hamilton Heights/West Harlem resident and voting constituent, I am OPPOSED to the proposed 1727 Amsterdam Avenue Supportive Housing Project, which will replace the existing Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC), eliminating the vital medical services currently provided there to our community and beyond. This project was planned without taking our needs and concerns into consideration and without any interface with our local Community Board (MCB9).
The 1727 Amsterdam project (a.k.a “Hill Top Apartments”) as proposed by Bowery Residents’ Committee (BRC), the private company designated by HPD to develop and manage this replacement facility, will include 120 supportive housing units explicitly designated for NYC Health + Hospitals patients struggling with mental illness and substance abuse, thereby increasing the number of supportive housing units within the immediate vicinity by more than a third. The Hamilton Heights/West Harlem community presently has far more than its fair share of such facilities. While we support and encourage the provision of services to people experiencing substance abuse and mental health issues, we believe that facilities to assist them must be equitably distributed throughout the entire city. Hamilton Heights/West Harlem is now both under-resourced and oversaturated.
Sadly, treatment facilities for substance abusers and the mentally ill add to the serious burden faced by local residents and law enforcement, including the attraction of more illegal drug traffickers seeking to prey upon this vulnerable population. The immediate vicinity of 1727 Amsterdam Avenue already has a deadly history of gun violence in the past several years alone. Also, there are roughly 20 schools with approximately 16,000 students within a half-mile, 10-block radius of this site, and The William Lynch School (M153) and P.S.153, which house grades K-5 as well as 3-K and pre-K programs, are co-located directly across the street. Under current DOE expansion plans, that building is expected to accommodate middle schoolers too, for a total enrollment of almost 1,000 students from three to thirteen-years-old. For these as well as other compelling reasons, 1727 Amsterdam Avenue would not be a safe or appropriate location for the specific type of supportive housing project proposed by BRC.
Additionally, BRC has absolutely no experience in developing and managing supportive housing facilities in Manhattan. It is extremely important to note that the New York State Comptroller’s Office, Division of State Government Accountability, issued a lengthy written report in 2019 detailing inadequate management and services by BRC while under contract to provide homeless outreach services at Penn Station. CBS News summarized the report this way: “A scathing new report claims a homeless non-profit is doing next to nothing to actually help the homeless.” This alone is sufficient reason to halt development and management of this project by BRC.
We strongly request that you support MCB9’s resolution against the 1727 Amsterdam Avenue project proposed by BRC, which passed by unanimous consent on June 15, 2023 with 43 members in attendance, and recommended an alternative solution.
Our community urgently needs low-income housing for seniors, families, veterans, and the disabled, truly affordable workforce housing, as well as a sensitive and balanced
development plan that will bring equitable economic opportunities, much-needed services, and necessary resources to our residents and businesses.
Enough is enough! We say NO to BRC’s proposal for 1727 Amsterdam Avenue and are hereby emphatically asking you to support the needs and will of your Hamilton Heights/ West Harlem constituents regarding this project, including the involvement of MCB9 and our community in developing an appropriate and sustainable plan for this important and prominent site.
Respectfully,