Midtown Shelter On 'Billionaire's Row' Can Be Built, Court Rules

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — A proposed homeless shelter that set off a fierce neighborhood battle when the city first sought to open it in the stretch of Midtown known as "Billionaire's Row" is set to move forward after getting the green light from the state's highest court.

Thursday's order by the state court of appeals spurned a suit by a group of neighbors who went to court to stop the shelter, and managed to delay it for years after the city first announced it in 2018.

The neighbors claimed the building — the former Park Savoy Hotel, on West 58th Street between Sixth and Seventh avenues — was structurally unsafe and unfit for use as a shelter.

After a lower court ruled that a hearing should be held to determine the building's safety, the appeals court dismissed that recommendation on Thursday, deferring to the city's finding that the building is safe.

The ruling was first reported by the New York Post. Once opened, the shelter will butt up against One57 — the 1,000-foot skyscraper that kickstarted Billionaire's Row when it was built in 2014.

Shortly after it was first announced in 2018, people packed a neighborhood auditorium to blast the 150-bed shelter, accusing the city of failing to conduct community outreach and claiming that the sight of homeless New Yorkers would disturb visitors in the tourist-heavy area.

The city defended its plans, saying the shelter would help phase out the use of cluster sites and commercial hotels within the community district.

A spokesperson for the Department of Homeless Services told the Post that the city was pleased with the ruling and "look[s] forward to opening our doors at this location as soon as possible."