Opposition Grows to Proposed Pearl Street Homeless Shelter
Who thought that turning a formerly thriving Hampton Inn hotel into a “low barrier” homeless shelter next door to a public elementary school was a good idea? Follow the money.
Downtown /
| 23 Jun 2025 | 11:55
Call it the Battle of Peck Slip and Pearl Street, or the People versus Big Homeless.
The proposed opening of a “low barrier” homeless shelter adjacent an elementary school steps away from South Street Seaport has triggered some angry rhetoric from local activists who are pushing for new regulations to mandate at least 500 feet of separation between such operations.
A “low barrier”—or “Safe Haven”— shelter is one that doesn’t require a criminal background check, sobriety, or identification to enter.
The exact address of the proposed shelter is 320 Pearl St., formerly a nine-story Hampton Inn adjacent to the Peck Slip School, PS 343, the educational home of more than 400 kids, from pre-K to fifth grade. Standing opposite 320 Pearl St. is the cooperative Southbridge Towers, a complex with 1,650 apartments and thousands more residents.
On the afternoon of Wednesday, June 11, Southbridge Towers resident Eric Yu—who is also a member of Community Board 1 and, at the time, a longshot candidate for City Council—took a day off from his MTA director job to protest the planned Pearl Street shelter specifically and to propose greater regulation concerning the siting of such shelters generally.
Standing with Yu on Peck Slip were dozens of multi-ethnic supporters holding signs reading “School Safety Is a Priority”; “Safe Distance From Schools”; and “Schools Must Be a Safe Place.” Affixed to music stand from which Yu read his speech, a sign read “500-ft Minimum Separation From Schools!”—which is also the proposed regulation Yu and CB1 back for all future shelter locations.
“It is irresponsible and negligent by the mayor and Department of Homeless Services to site this men’s shelter literally next door to . . . elementary school children,” Yu said. “This shelter will accept mentally ill, substance abusers, and registered sex offenders without a background check. What are they thinking?”
“The awarding and the siting of NYC-funded homeless shelters through an emergency request-for-proposal process is fraught with back-room negotiations without legitimate public comment and concurrence by other local officials,” Yu continued, further noting that “320 Pearl Street will be paid $51 million dollars over 4.5 years. This shelter will be paid $11.3 million per year or $106k a year per occupant.”
The People Versus Big Real Estate
While Yu didn’t mention it, Southbridge Towers residents are no strangers to fighting.
Indeed, to Yu’s immediate right stands a decorated fence surrounding 250 Water St., a former parking lot that its owner, Howard Hughes Corp., proposed to develop into a 324-foot-tall apartment tower. While Hughes Corp. won a three-year-long legal fight against a community group called the Seaport Coalition in 2024, which alleged that the project’s approval by the de Blasio administration was improper, it has since spun off the property with plans to sell it to another developer.
How the future affluent residents of 250 Water St. would feel about the homeless shelter mere steps away is open to speculation, but the financial stakes here are huge. How huge?
In December 2023, 320 Pearl St. was bought by David Schwartz of the Slate Property Group of 440 Park Ave. So. in NoMad for $24.1 million. The seller was Ashish Parikh of the Pennsylvania-based hospitality group Hersha Hotels and Resorts.
By March 2024, the generally well-reviewed Hampton Inn was closed, and the local community wondered, What next?
The answer came that June, just days before the school year ended: 320 Pearl St. was to become a homeless shelter, operated by Breaking Ground, a non-profit organization serving homeless New Yorkers.
But that’s only part of the story.
Friends in High Places
It turns out, the proposal to turn 320 Pearl St. into a homeless shelter had been presented to the Department of Homeless Services the priorJanuary, with no public notice in the interim.
Subsequently, a parents group called Peck Slip Advocates for School Safety (PASS) was formed to challenge the project legally. That they raised over $20,000 is impressive—but pales in comparison with the tens of millions of dollars Slate Property is believed to make by leasing its properties as homeless shelters.
How do to they do it? Not to simplify the complex world of real estate investment, but in in 2018, Slate Property Group co-founder David Schwartz hosted a $20,000 fundraiser for then Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams—after which Adams endorsed a zoning variance for a Slate residential tower project in Brooklyn.
On the “non-profit” side, according to 2023 filings, Breaking Ground President and CEO Brenda Rosen’s salary was $629,604, with $13,827 in other compensation. Vice President David Beer made $336,867, with $47,222 in other compensation.
Interestingly, Breaking Ground’s headquarters at 505 Eighth Ave., at West 35th Street (which is also home to Straus News’s Manhattan office), is modest, while the surrounding blocks are an epicenter of Midtown homelessness and drug addiction.
The People United May or May Not Be Defeated
While Eric Yu led this particular rally, Yu’s concern’s largely align with those of Council Member Christopher Marte, whose seat Yu was seeking.
“Since learning about this proposed shelter a year ago, I have consistently engaged with all levels of the administration and with our community to address the serious concerns raised about this site,” the incumbent Council member said in a statement.
“My opposition hasn’t just been words, but deliberate action to find a practical solution that addresses the critical needs of homeless New Yorkers and the valid security and privacy concerns . . . raised by a safe haven sharing a wall with an elementary school. I have relayed the community’s concerns to all the decision makers, including Department of Social Services Commissioner Park. . . .
“We are not interested in turning this issue into a political football—we are working to make sure our families are heard and that any decisions made take their safety and well-being seriously. That’s the job, and that’s what we will keep doing.”
History Is Spoken Here
Not to be lost in all the homeless hubbub is one of downtown’s most interesting public art projects, which is affixed to PS 334, near the corner of Peck Slip. Created by artist Duke Riley of laser-cut stainless steel, “The Legacy of Cornelius Dirckson” stunningly reflects Riley’s passion for maritime history, and includes the inscription: “The first ferry service in New York began here on Peck Slip established by Cornelius Dirckson in 1630 with one small canoe. It cost three beads of wampum.”