Assemblyman William Colton (D—Gravesend, Bensonhurst, Bath Beach and Dyker Heights) and City Councilmember Susan Zhuang (D-Bensonhurst, Bath Beach, Gravesend, Dyker Heights, Boro Park and Sunset Park) will be holding a press conference outside the proposed homeless shelter site, at 2501 86th Street, at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, April 15, 2026 with respect to the Stop Work Order issued by the city’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) after what may have been the discovery of asbestos in the existing building.

Both Assemblyman Colton and Councilmember Zhuang had warned that the asbestos inspection that ostensibly had previously been done might have been fraudulent, as the inspector who performed it has prior criminal convictions for filing fraudulent asbestos reports in New York City, and they raised the possibility that he actually never went to the property at all when he said he was there.

“It is shameful that it has taken something this dangerous to get the city to, at least temporarily, halt a project which has been strenuously opposed by the community for over three years,” said Assemblyman Colton. “Because they have been deaf to our appeals, they have potentially exposed this community to asbestos. It is long past time for the city to take our reasoned opposition seriously, and look for a sensible alternative, such as affordable housing, to the current plan.”

The project, which had been stalled, was suddenly accelerated last month. Assemblyman Colton and Councilmember Zhuang have repeatedly contended that the city’s homeless population would be better served by the construction of affordable housing with supportive services available as necessary, and that the costly project, part of $8 billion spent annually on homeless services, is basically a giveaway to developers and the organizations that run the shelters. In this instance, the developer is Sandhu Builders.

The demolition began in late March, with trucks arriving on the evening of Palm Sunday, despite numerous objections both to the project, which would house 150 single men, and to the process by which the project came about, which has been filled with irregularities since its inception.