New Harlem Homeless Shelter Holds Ribbon Cutting

HARLEM, NY — A new shelter in East Harlem held its official ribbon cutting this week.

Operated by VIP Community Services, the new shelter at 170 East 123rd St., between Third and Lexington Avenues, opened late last year, but celebrated its ribbon cutting on Tuesday.

The new shelter hold 135 beds catering to single men suffering mental and behavioral health issues.

"This is where we make sure that the homeless men have a safe place to sleep," said Natalie Richardson, vice president and managing director of operations at VIP in a September presentation to Community Board 11, who noted that with new city housing voucher rules, it will be easier to find more permanent housing for their residents.

At the site, there will be wrap-around services, including health and wellness services, meals, social services, housing assistance, socialization structure and recreational activities.

Residents must first be admitted to Bellevue Hospital and then referred by the city's Department of Homeless Services before coming to the Harlem site.

Bronx-based VIP Community Services runs several shelters in commercial hotels through the Department of Homeless Services in Queens and Manhattan, and also owns their own 48-bed facility in the Bronx — many of which were first opened during the pandemic and were kept open as the migrant crisis ramped up, said Richardson.

Their hotel shelters now house 615 families seeking asylum and over 500 single adults.

VIP opened their first Bronx shelter in 1989 for transgender, nonconforming New Yorkers — the same facility they still own. In total, VIP operates nearly 5,000 shelter beds around the city.

The emergency shelter building is newly renovated and is also the longtime home of the Ebenezer AME Church.

New York Attorney General Letitia James’s office investigated the sale of the former church to developer Moujan Vahdat as part of a sprawling scandal involving the sale of seven church buildings, which accused the developer of giving backroom cash to AME church leaders to allow him to alter the terms of the sales to his favor.

Correction: A previous version of the article erroneously stated that 170 East 123rd Street was the former home of the Ebenezer AME Church. The church is still located at their longtime address which it now shares with the new shelter.