Bx. homeless shelter shock

Neighbors rip ‘bait- &-switch’

A developer who proposed a “market rate” apartment complex in the Kingsbridge section of The Bronx has cut a deal with the city to instead open a homeless shelter for families — and neighbors are furious.

The “bait and switch” at 5731 Broadway near 236th Street was pulled off by politically connected developer Stagg Group.

Former Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrión, a consultant to Stagg, was the point person in negotiating the deal.

“This was done in a slick way,” fumed Richard Stabile, 73, who lives in an apartment complex next to the site. “We don’t mind a small homeless shelter. But this is significant. This is massive.”

Assemblyman Jeff Dinowitz said he was told by the developer in January that the building would be a rental — only to get a notification from the Mayor’s Office a couple of weeks ago that it had selected a not-for-profit, Praxis, to run it as a homeless shelter.

“It’s a classic bait-andswitch,” Dinowitz said. “Nobody likes to be lied to.”

The seven-story building, with 83 units, is located next to the NYPD’s 50th Precinct station house in a heavily trafficked, mixed-use district.

The furor comes months after Mayor de Blasio proposed opening 90 more shelters throughout the city to deal with nearrecord homelessness.

Mark Stagg, CEO of Stagg Group, said he initially planned to market his building as luxury housing but changed his mind after being approached by Praxis six weeks ago.

“The need is so great for families and children,” he said.

Stagg expects to fetch market-rate rents from the city, about $1,800 a month for each apartment — all without the marketing costs of a new rental and no worries about payment.

The city defended the proposal, noting that it is phasing out widely criticized commercial hotels and so-called cluster sites for the homeless.