The Skyway Hotel hosts 21 registered sex offenders.
The Skyway Hotel homeless cen- ter created a lot of controversy last spring when it seemingly overnight went from a family homeless facil- ity to a male only shelter. Commu- nity Board 10, neighbors, and local elected officials all condemned the transition for the lack of community notification and claimed their area was forced to service an unfair por- tion of the homeless population.
At community board meetings, residents also expressed fear of an increase in criminal activity. Now it has been brought to light that 21 reg- istered sex offenders are living at the shelter, a statistic that worries many.
“The board would question whether it is appropriate for one sin- gle location to house that number of registered sex offenders,” said Betty Braton, Chairwoman of Commu- nity Board 10, which serves the area where the shelter is located. A search on the New York State
Division of Criminal Justice registered sex offenders list reveals that in ZIP code 11430, all of the 21 registered offenders on the list live at the shelter’s address, 132-10 South Conduit Avenue. Because sex offenders are required to register under all aliases, more than 21 names appear on the list.
Community Board 10’s most populous ZIP code, 11420 also has 21 offenders, but they are all spread out geographically. The remainder of Board 10’s domain, ZIP codes 11414, 11417 and half of 11419, is home to a total of 15 offenders, meaning that approximately one third of all sex of- fenders living in Community Board 10 are concentrated at the shelter’s address.
For Braton, she says this is par- ticularly worrisome to community members because of the shelter’s close proximity to a local school, PS 124.
“This was one of the fears expressed [when the shelter first converted], said Braton.
Although the Department of Homeless Services (DHS) did not respond to repeated attempts for comment on safety measures being taken, Heather Janik, a spokesperson for DHS told The Forum in March, “ Homeless Services has a mandate to provide temporary, emergency shelter to those in need. We have recently seen an increase in the number of adults applying for services and as such, the agency must make judicious use of all its capacity as demand needs change.”
According to Braton, the board “will continue to question the judgment on the part of homeless services,” when they resume meeting in September.
To search for New York State reg- istered sex offenders, visit www.criminaljustice.ny.gov/nsor. According to the site, by law, Level 1 (low risk) offenders are not listed.
By Katie Riordan
