A controversial homeless shelter in Brooklyn is plowing ahead after racking up thousands of dollars in violations and a partial stop-work order on the site, enraging neighbors already fed-up with another planned nearby men’s shelter.
Local residents said work has been ongoing on half of the two-lot plot of Coyle Street in Sheepshead Bay — where dozens of neighbors camped out in protest of the shelter last summer.
Crews struck a live gas line on the other half of the plot earlier this month, prompting city Department of Buildings investigators to respond and halt construction after discovering the site had numerous issues — and lacked the proper permits.
The site has racked up $22,500 in unpaid fines over the last two weeks for the violations, records show.
The construction crews didn’t have the proper permits to be excavating the property at 2134 Coyle Street when they smashed into the fuel line there on March 11, records show.
A worker told The Post the pipe was unmarked and wasn’t on any property maps.
The DOB slapped the contractors with a partial stop-work order for both plots, later lifting it for the adjoining lot at 2150 Coyle Street.
“They fixed it almost immediately, or said they fixed it. Why did they hit a gas line to begin with? They’re not doing things carefully,” said Benjamin Louie, 40, one of the many neighbors who have been raising alarms about the property since it was proposed for a family shelter last year.
Neighbors had filed dozens of complaints in an effort to stop the project at all costs.
Residents alleged the contractors were continuing illegal work on the property in spite of the stop-work order, but the DOB did not find evidence of those claims.
Critics have repeatedly claimed the site is inappropriate for a family shelter because of the property’s close proximity to the numerous daycare centers that line Avenue U, as well as the elementary and middle schools just several blocks away.
“We are not against homeless people, but we are against the developer. They are making homeless people into a business. They’re opening these homeless shelters everywhere because it’s big business,” said Eddie Ye, 48.
Bona Male, 56, who runs an electrician’s shop at the corner, said the incoming shelter posed a safety risk.
“I have to stay late at work, I don’t feel safe. It’s enough that we have to worry about our safety on the streets of New York, but this is right here,” said Male.
“There are so many empty lots all over New York. I don’t understand why they have to open something like this in the middle of a neighborhood where people live. We opened our office here about a year ago. If we’d known about this ahead of time, we never would have moved here.”
Westhab, the shelter’s developer, denies conducting any illegal work after the stop-work order was issued.
“As the city faces record homelessness, our project at 2134 Coyle Street will deliver the only dedicated family shelter within 3.5 miles,” a spokesperson said in a statement.
“We are in regular communication with the Department of Buildings, have followed all requirements and regulations, and continue to engage the community, including our neighbors, as we work to deliver this essential resource for Sheepshead Bay families who may experience homelessness.”
The shelter is slated to open in 2027, and will serve 175 families.
The property lies just 2 miles from a planned 150-capacity men’s shelter in Bensonhurst, where hundreds of enraged neighbors swarmed in protest over the weekend.
Construction at the site is expected to begin soon, City Hall said Monday, in spite of concerns that it would “bring danger to the neighborhood.”
Similarly, neighbors in the Upper East Side have been fighting against a women’s shelter that was given the green light by a judge last week.
A worker at the Coyle Street site urged locals to get over their concerns and accept that they’ll have new neighbors moving into Sheepshead Bay soon.
“You don’t like it? What are you going to do, tie yourself to a f–king tree?” the worker said. “This isn’t going to stop for anybody. Whether we agree with it or not is a different question altogether.”
