The Bowery Mission - Tribeca Campus — Local services in New York

Attempted to utilize their dayroom in an attempt to speak to an "ambassador" three times in the last week to no avail. I talked to the front desk. The conversation went as follows: Me: Are the ambassadors going to call the names on the request to speak to an ambassador list. Desk: Oh, we have not looked at the list yet. Me: Um I say this with out anger or frustration, but you all have been in an out of the dayroom for the last hour and half. Chris, who is the third floor ambassador even made the announcements when you opened the day room and never even once looked at the list. None of you have. Desk: "Silence" A blank stare. Me: I have tried three times during my seven days to speak with an ambassador and it is been the same thing each time. Desk: "Silence" Blank stare.

So hypocritical of them. They grant favor to some. But they know the bible clearly states to show no favor to one over the other. That said: If you work full time, you can not utilize their "services" must sign in by 5pm everyday and in order to speak with an ambassador, you need to make yourself available to them between 10am to 2 pm add an hour in the morning in order to wait in line.

If you can, try to eat before signing in. Dinner can be good but most of the time it is stale bread and spoiled food that is "spiced" up so you will not taste it. It is mostly carbs. Old rice that is not stored correctly or that is dried out an donated (they will serve you the same rice for five days). They do not care or have concern about the quality of the food. They will take the expiration date stickers of the sandwiches, pre boxed meals so you do not know how expired they are. Once I took a bite of a donated sandwich that had avocados in it and the avocado was dark brown and mushy - rancid avocados the sandwhich was spoiled.

The dorms are nice. If you utilize them correctly, you "catch your breath and clear your mind" and sleep well.

Christian hypocrisy. An organization that pick and chooses Christian morals and ethics when it suits them and they think God will give them a "gold star" . But they are your best friends if you go into their program which by the way has over a 90% drop out rate. Your free labor when you are in their program. They will almost sleep deprive you all in the name of God If you do not worship God in a manner they want you to or fail to quote bible verses when requested, they make you leave...

Luckily my life is not so desperately pathetic that I need to wait for a raffle to decide whether I am going to get a bedbug laden bunk for the evening because if this were my only option I would stand in the broken elevator of the Mission until it plummeted 6 floors and killed me. I only stayed for a brief moment so will just give a handful of quick observations.

It is supposed to be an emergency shelter but people live there for literal years. There is no help with housing or job training and people who are trying to better themselves by getting jobs or going to school lose thier beds if they are not in them by 3:45 pm. There is racism, favoratism, laziness (Shayquan is easily the laziest and most useless "Ambassador" there) malaise, food poisoning, unrelenting filth and the knowledge that you are nothing more than a bed to fill. You are given a list of rules when you arrive but they are not followed and there are people who do not have to follow them or are not punished according to them. The only positive reviews here are written by people who like to pat themselves on the back because they donated, no one who has been subjected to the hypocrisy, toxicity, filth, injustice, assault from male clients, complete lack of care and never ending exhaustion of this place has ever left a positive review.

That's because it is not a positive place. I am lucky enough to be in a position where I can and will rise above this and I have nothing but compassion and pity for those who are trapped in that unhelful, unjust, and downright ugly situation. Jose, Chuck, Cheryl and Lea are good people who deserve better than this place. Aside from them, well...I'd go into a city shelter before subjecting myself to this...

I'm giving this place two stars because at least I have a safe place to sleep. I have been discriminated against due to my disability. I can hear the staff talking about me when they think I can't. I was told that you basically have to be able-bodied in order to stay here. They do not allow service animals and if you have a wheelchair, they will not let you stay here. The ADA implemented a federal law stating that places like this cannot deny someone services based on a disability but they're doing it. I have been discriminated against due to having a mobility aid. I have been treated with contempt and an attitude. Some people do not belong in social work and it is true of some of the staff here. They will be getting a visit from the ADA people and from my lawyer. If you are disabled, do not come here. You will be told that you are going to be denied services. They expect you to appear as if you are not disabled and it's not okay. These people need to drop the attitude and some people need to be fired. I've also noticed that it seems that the rules change depending on who is working that day. They really need a better system. Also, do not bother with their program unless you wanted to be treated worse than if you are in jail. They take your phone away for 3 months and you are not allowed to work or even leave the property. You have to get permission to even go to a doctor's appointment for crying out loud. If you are trying to get your life together, this is not the place to come to. If you are thinking about donating money or clothes or anything to this place, you should know that they discriminate against people. Your money would be better spent...