A double stabbing outside a men's transitional shelter in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn has left two men hospitalized and intensified safety concerns that neighbors say have been building since the facility opened about a month ago. Police said the violence erupted during an altercation outside the shelter on Chauncey Street on Sunday night.
According to police, a 40-year-old man and a 33-year-old man were stabbed in the stomach during the fight, which unfolded in chaotic fashion out on the street. Both were taken to the hospital, and a witness who lives across from the shelter described the scene as pandemonium as the confrontation spilled into public view.
Officers arrested two people in connection with the stabbing, a 27-year-old man and a 40-year-old man who had himself been stabbed in the altercation. According to arrest records, the 27-year-old who was taken into custody listed the shelter itself as his home address, a detail that has only sharpened the unease on the block.
For neighbors, the stabbing was the latest in a series of episodes they say have made them uneasy. Residents told News 12 that ever since the men's shelter opened on Chauncey Street, they have felt less safe, describing several incidents involving some of the people staying there and complaints about people out on the street at all hours of the early morning.
Much of the frustration has centered on how the shelter came to open in the first place. Community board meeting minutes show that Acacia Network, which runs the 142-bed men's transitional shelter, had said it would conduct community outreach before opening. Neighbors say that outreach never happened, and the community board says it was never even notified when the facility actually opened its doors.
Not everyone sees the shelter as a problem. A man who moved into the facility just days ago said that if he were a neighbor, he would share the same concerns, but he stressed that the shelter is an important space for people trying to turn their lives around. He noted there is an 11 p.m. curfew for residents, and said he was saddened that the incident might discourage others who need such a place.
News 12 said it reached out to Acacia Network and to the city's Department of Homeless Services about the community's concerns and the community board's claim that the promised outreach never took place, and was still waiting to hear back. For now, the block is left grappling with a violent night and lingering questions about the shelter in its midst.