Coed bathrooms, trash, other indignities

hurry,” the officer said. “It puts everyone at risk.”

At a shelter in East Tremont, the Bronx, a room that measures 8-by-8 holds the officers’ lockers and the shelter’s arrest bench — where clients caught breaking the law are held pending arrest.

“If an officer comes in for a shift and there’s a client on the bench, they either have to change in front of them or go into the bathroom, which is just a mess,” said one of the veteran guards. “There’s no phone, no fax; it’s worse than a Third World facility.”

Gregory Floyd, president of Teamsters Local 237, said the deplorable conditions were cause for concern — especially in light of de Blasio’s rush to buy more buildings for more shelters to address the increasing number of homeless people in the city.

“The expansion is outpacing the staffing . . . the shelters are understaffed and underequipped; that’s why we have coed locker rooms — something the mayor would criticize any other employer for doing,” Floyd said. “Rather than opening new shelters and letting the chips fall where they may, City Hall should fix and adequately staff the ones they have.”

A city spokesman said de Blasio allocated $200 million to make major repairs to address some 400 outstanding violations and is moving faster to make repairs.

“We are committed to working with Local 237 to ensure the workplace needs of the . . . officers who keep our clients safe every day are met. Thanks to the mayor’s revamped shelter repair squad, we’ve increased inspections by 84% and reduced violations by 83% since last year, eliminating more than 10,400 violations in shelters citywide,” said spokesman Isaac McGinn.

De Blasio also ordered an overhaul of the city’s beleaguered shelter system after a series of gruesome deaths last year.

On Jan. 27, 2016, a mentally ill man was suspected of cutting the throat of Deven Black, 62, a homeless former teacher — nearly decapitating him inside the Boulevard Homeless Shelter in East Harlem.

In February 2016, Rebecca Cutler, 26, and two of her three children were killed at a hotel housing homeless families on Staten Island when her jealous boyfriend went on a sickening stabbing spree, officials said. Ziana, 1, and Maliyah, just 4 months old, died after being stabbed multiple times. Twoyear-old Miracle survived.

There are more than 62,000 homeless people in city shelters, according to the Coalition for the Homeless. That’s 78% higher than the number of people in shelters just 10 years ago.