More photos from 190 Stanton, the scene of a fatal stabbing early this morning. As we reported earlier, police recovered a bloody kitchen knife from a trash can. They continue to search for the suspect.
The Lo-Down’s Jennifer Strom, on the scene, spoke with resident Doug Sims, who has lived across the street for nine years. Sims said there is often activity on the street outside Stanton House (which is transitional housing) in the middle of the night. “They bring the guys out and line them up along the wall there, and after a while they go back in,” he said. A police helicopter with strobe lights searching the street woke him after the stabbing.
The building is a halfway house run by Community Access. Contacted by The Lo-Down, the organization’s spokesman, John Williams, declined comment. He said a statement would be released later today. Community Access was created in 1974 with the mission of “building hope through housing.” According to its website, the non-profit provides housing, job training and other services to clients diagnosed with mental illnesses. In February, the organization was named as one of 10 semi-finalists in The New York Times‘ Nonprofit Excellence Awards.
(Updates on this story available here.)
I live at 195 Stanton, across the street from where this took place. My apartment faces the street. Like the resident described in this article, 190 Stanton is an issue for the neighborhood. There is frequently yelling and fighting in front of the building involving inhabitants and the workers, and there does not seem to be any type of security personnel. I’m not impressed with Community Access, how can you foster hope when there isn’t safety?
I just moved in next door to 190 Stanton and I can’t believe they would allow this type of facility on the same block as 2 schools! Is there some kind of petition that can start to have this place relocated?
Community Access has tenants in apartments all over, not just this building. Their organization finds housing for people, in a supervised manner, who are not sick enough to be in mental institutions, and are not quite capable of earning a living, and thus would otherwise be homeless. Over the past 15 years I’ve interacted with dozens of their tenants, and have found most of them to be good neighbors. Some seem very drugged (and thus calm), and some are disabled, and one was murdered by her boyfriend, but on occasion there is one that seems a little scary, screaming all night, standing in the hallway etc. CA has been responsive if there are complaints. They provide a good service, and to petition them to not be on your street is ridiculous. If you seriously want to choose your neighbors to this degree, you really need to rethink your idea of living in Manhattan. These people are not criminals, they are mentally or emotionally challenged. I am certain that if one of their clients had a history of violence they would not be in this program.
The problem is the gangbangers who live in the Housing Authority building on the corner of Stanton and Attorney and hang out and deal infront of 195 Stanton and the bodega on the corner. Are you going to petition the Housing Authority to move them to Bronx? Get ready for more gang fights, more shootings and more stabbings to come.
Sorry,but the mentally ill are not criminals.You can’t blame a whole group of people for the actions of the few.As a Social Worker,who formerly worked with the mentally ill,I can tell you that many of them have achieved some stability through medication and intensive therapy/casemamagement.They shouldn’t have to be relocated because the community feels uncomfortable.After these types of incidents,there should be closer supervision.