Borden Avenue Veterans Residence — Local services in New York

Stopping to visit a friend in New York City while relocating to another State from upstate New York, I re-injured my spine, became unable to walk, sought help at a local VA hospital, and became a resident of the Borden Avenue Veterans Shelter. This shelter is being housed in a Long Island City Queens hotel due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

In today’s Borden Avenue Veterans Shelter the 10PM curfew is only a suggestion, and apparently it is not the job of the shelter staff or onsite security to enforce the curfew or most of the other shelter rules. At times groups of shelter residents get high and/or drunk and loudly congregate down both sides of the street outside the shelter, before and after the 10PM curfew-and the situation is worse on their check-days. Many alcoholic beverages are consumed right in front of the building and multiple individuals are eager to run to and from the store for others for the price of one cigarette.

The Director of the Borden Avenue shelter (Sarah F.) told me herself that one of my former shelter roommates “has the autonomy to choose where and how he lives” even though the roommate in question is an elderly man that only got off of his stinking, urine-soaked bedding to go out and smoke crack or go to the basement cafeteria. On at least 2 occasions I was informed by the House Managers or shelter staff that since this is a hotel and not the actual shelter NOTHING could be done about my complaints about the disorderly and disturbing behaviors of my roommates and other shelter residents.

The NYC Dept.of Homeless Services and the Dept. of Veterans Affairs compensates the agency administrating the veterans shelter a hefty fee (reportedly hundreds of dollars daily) for every veteran, and additionally even hundreds of dollars MORE per veteran for the hotel residency.

The unhurried apathy of the shelter staff is actually conscious and disingenuous manipulations to increase the agency’s revenue stream at the expense of NYC taxpayers. The agency social worker and support staff are lackadaisical about their role in finding permanent housing for us veterans, because the agency makes more money each day we vets remain in the shelter; i.e., why should a social worker use websites and the internet to almost instantaneously obtain needed documents for the vets, when the same social worker can use the US post office (snail mail) and force the vet to remain in the shelter and wait weeks for the same document? IT’S ALL ABOUT THE MONEY.

It is apparent from speaking with multiple residents that veterans of every circumstance, including active addicts and alcoholics, are “cherry-picked” from the NYC Dept. of Homeless Services system regardless of their need or desire for veteran-specialized services, and these people are involuntarily transferred to the Borden Avenue Veteran Shelter. IT’S ALL ABOUT THE MONEY.

There is also a subculture of veterans that have income or are employed or employable that remain in the Borden Avenue Veterans Shelter for months or years, individuals that actually decline, refuse, or do not use the Section 8, HUD-VASH, or other housing vouchers. The agency is continually compensated for these individuals. AGAIN, IT’S ALL ABOUT THE MONEY.

I have personally been on the receiving end of multiple condescending and disdainful interactions with several Borden Avenue Shelter social workers.

This contemporary Borden Avenue Veterans Shelter is a travesty, and a perversion of greed combined with deceitful social work practices, and a haven for the drug and alcohol addicted with cable and a TV in each room.

The old Borden Avenue was a veteran’s shelter; this Borden Avenue is a shelter with veterans. Gives a new, different, and disturbing meaning to the phrase “Thank you for...

There are good and bad things everywhere we go, however there are things that can be avoided. Stay to yourself and focus on you. Do whats necessary for you to move on. Keep in mind there are other people who are going through hard times too and it necessary for people to be considerate to the way they have to live in this open ceiling space. There has been a death there due to overdose. So I understand why they are concerned about safety. There should be case by case privileges given based on mental and physical conditions. I as a person who has no criminal record or have a violent past should not feel like I am in prison or in a mental ward. I was approved for HUD over a month and I have not yet been notified about how long it's going to take. I like my caseworker I can talk to her as a normal person. There are others who may not care at all. I've gotten into it with the housing manager about showing favoritism to some and trying g to regulate authority over others. I just want to do what I need to do so I can get to my space of normalcy and get back to my life. It's ashame that a veteran has to render their values to homelessness in order to get help from the Veterans Administration. I'm a victim of bureaucracy in NYC. Loosing my apartment and relying on agencies to help pay my rent didn't work. I'm doing what i need to do to be stable and a functioning member of society. There's but only so much of this I can take. Homophobic slurs and threats have been made. I shouldn't have to go...

Borden Avenue veterans homeless shelter is very very very very very very nice pretty much they help veterans get back on their feet and find them a place to live. This should be more of these places all over America everywhere they should never be a homeless veteran in America no matter what their DD-214 says after they get out of the military. If you served at least, 180 days even if your the outcome of your DD-214 is other than dishonorable you should be able to find the place and get off the street and get some help. No one knows what a veteran went through in their time in the military and how it affected them. Continue to like hit that subscribe button and I am a veteran myself and I have been homeless...