Temperatures at a men’s homeless shelter on Wards Island dipped as low as 45 degrees inside this month, violating a city requirement that they be more than 20 degrees warmer than that, a group that inspects the shelter reported.
“I have yogurt, I have cold cuts, I have almond milk, I have all this stuff. It’s so cold in here that they haven’t gone spoiled yet. And I had them for two weeks already,” said Reinaldo, who didn’t want to use his last name for fear of retaliation from shelter staff.
Organizers with the Coalition for the Homeless, which conducts inspections of facilities, said it visited the Schwartz Assessment Shelter numerous times since early December and recorded temperatures in the 50s and low 60s. One reading inside one of the dorm rooms this month was as low as 45 degrees.
The city’s Department of Homeless Services, which owns the building says the issue isn’t with the heating system but rather the window units and that the agency is working to renovate parts of the building.
“In this instance our teams addressed issues, like drafty and open windows, which contributed to the cold temperatures and later ensured that internal temperatures fell within the legally mandated range. We will continue to monitor this situation through the winter months,” DHS spokesperson Nicholas Jacobelli said.
Jamie Powlovich, a senior manager for the Coalition for the Homeless, said while the organization normally receives several heating complaints, they’re usually confined to one of the dorm rooms or a broken radiator, not the entire facility.
“Both clients, staff and security were complaining, people were wearing winter jackets and other cold weather accessories inside,” she said. “It was unacceptable.”
Powlovich said the issue is the building’s aging infrastructure, which allows cold air in.
Reinaldo, 45, who was temporarily transferred to the shelter in early December, said he’s been wearing two hoodies, two pairs of sweatpants and a winter hat.
“The windows have these plastics on it, and it doesn’t hold any cold from the windows at all,” he said.
Volunteers of America, the service provider for the building, deferred comment to the city.
This story has been updated to include additional comment from the city Department of Homeless Services.
