Everyone deserves the security of a stable home—and the chance to live with dignity and respect. But here in North Sunset Park and South Slope, Brooklyn, we continue to be overlooked. Our neighborhood has one of the lowest rates of affordable housing development in all of New York City.

Instead of investing in long-term, permanent housing solutions, we’re being targeted—again—by shady developers and non-profits seeking to convert hotels and warehouses into temporary shelters. These projects do not address the root causes of housing insecurity. They warehouse people in unstable conditions while profiting off communities already stretched thin.

Greenwood Heights deserves better. Our neighbors need truly affordable, permanent homes—not another short-term fix that leaves people in limbo and our community further marginalized.

Please read our press release: Greenwood Heights, Sunset Park Residents Demand Criminal Investigation and Halt Hazardous 225 25th Street Warehouse-Shelter Project

SIGN OUR PETITION TO STOP LEVITAN’S WAREHOUSE SHELTER

Who is the notorious developer, David Levitan / Liberty One Group, and why are we opposing his 225 25th St. shelter development?

“In 2015, David Levitan’s company was listed as one of New York City’s worst landlords. At an apartment building he owned in the Bronx, which the city used to house homeless people, inspectors found a host of violations, including a rat infestation, rotting wooden floors and elevators that went out for days at a time.

At a different building Mr. Levitan owned next door, an internal stairway collapsed, inspections showed. In Queens, tenants in another of Mr. Levitan’s buildings said they went days without heat and hot water, and they complained of bedbugs and peeling lead paint.” 

Amy Julia Harris, NYTimes, Dec. 20, 2021
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/20/nyregion/nyc-homeless-levitan-de-blasio.html

“Mr. Levitan not only owns the buildings; he also operates a maintenance company to service the properties, generating millions of dollars in additional revenue. In two instances, The Times found, Mr. Levitan required the nonprofit groups renting his buildings to hire the maintenance company, an apparent violation of city bidding rules.

New York City spends more than $2.6 billion [ now it is over 4 billion ] a year on homelessness — a number that has soared in recent years. This year, The Times has documented how executives at many nonprofits that run shelters have enriched themselves through high salaries, nepotism and questionable contracts.”

Amy Julia Harris, NYTimes, Dec. 20, 2021

Corruption or Incompetence?

In March 2024, Levitan and his co-conspirators purchased 225 25th Street in Brooklyn. They immediately began renovating the asbestos-laden building and applied for a shelter permit, essentially dictating to the city where to open a new shelter.

DHS informed us, local elected officials, and the community board that David Levitan’s massive warehouse shelter facility at 225 25th Street is scheduled to open this year. If this project moves forward, it will house 200+ men in a congregate facility.

DSS/DHS technocrats blindly follow Levitan’s directives, disregarding the city’s fair share requirements and exposing a blatant lack of strategic, long-term planning. This top-down, bureaucratic decision-making process operates in the shadows, shutting out community voices and ignoring the realities on the ground. We have repeatedly demanded the city’s mandated fair share study for our neighborhood—yet, unsurprisingly, our requests have been met with silence. This deliberate evasion speaks volumes about their disregard for transparency, equity, and accountability.

Let’s be clear: our position is not NIMBYism.
The Greenwood Heights—Sunset Park community has been welcoming. It already has about 14+ shelters within a one-mile radius of this proposed site—the second most beds per capita in a Brooklyn district. In contrast, most neighboring districts have zero or only a few shelters. 

Again, our concerns are not rooted in opposition to aiding those in need or having shelters in our neighborhood. Instead, they center on two critical issues: the disproportionate and unfair distribution of shelters within our community and the infamous developers whose ethical practices have been repeatedly questioned.

Developers like Levitan precisely target and take advantage of working-class neighborhoods with inadequate political representation. Using tactics similar to those of colonialists, they focus on lower-income marginalized areas; they exploit vulnerabilities to prioritize profit over the well-being of the community. They do not care if adequate social services exist or if their buildings are suitable for residential use.

We say enough is enough.

It’s essential to challenge the destructive patterns of neoliberal exploitation that instrumentalize our community’s social insecurities for financial gain. We advocate for 100% publicly provided services that genuinely and strategically address the needs of our communities rather than allowing profit-driven models to control the allocation of care and resources haphazardly. 

We fully support low-income, deeply affordable homes in our neighborhood.

It’s time for the city and our elected officials to make a choice: stand with Levitan’s unchecked agenda OR fight for the future of our community, develop housing, not warehousing!

Our community’s collective voice, represented by the 1000+ signatures we have gathered primarily from our diverse community members and business owners within seven blocks of this proposed site, reflects our steadfast desire for justice, fairness, accountability, and our involvement in decisions that affect our neighborhood’s future. 

Again, we need real homes, not temporary fixes. We support transforming 225 25th Street into permanent, low-income housing. To learn more, tune in to our podcast on New York City’s housing crisis.