Council hearing on Jacobi ‘Just Home’ draws hours of testimony; hearing closed and item laid over

The New York City Council’s land-use subcommittee heard more than four hours of public testimony on the Fortune Society’s Just Home proposal at the Jacobi Hospital campus in the Bronx before the panel closed the hearing and laid the land-use application over for further review.

The Fortune Society representative testifying described the project as 100% affordable housing that would include permanent supportive units for people leaving Rikers with complex medical needs. "Apartments that will be here, we know where there's 58 supportive housing units, 24 affordable studio units through Housing Connect, and the superintendent apartments, all a 100% affordable housing development," the representative said. They described an on-site services model that assigns each resident a case manager and a care manager, typically beginning with three weekly visits, and said the operator will staff 24-hour security with two people per shift and motion-activated cameras that record when triggered.

The proposal drew sharply divided testimony from neighborhood residents, health-care and reentry advocates, and city officials. Supporters said Just Home would provide medically appropriate housing and reduce costly hospital and jail recidivism. "Stable housing, paired with comprehensive supports, is the foundation of successful reentry," Harry Mouton, senior director of programs at Our Children, testified in support. Patrick Stevens of the Center for Community Alternatives and public-health policy advocates from John Jay emphasized research linking supportive housing to lower arrest and hospitalization rates.

Opponents said the site — Building 2 on the Jacobi campus, located near family homes, schools, day-care centers and a Kennedy Center facility for people with developmental disabilities — was inappropriate and that the community had not been sufficiently consulted. "This project was not openly discussed with the community. It was leaked out. That alone tells us something," Patricia Cambria, a local resident, told the subcommittee. Other residents asked for senior housing, veterans housing and community centers instead of the proposed use.

Speakers also raised concerns about safety, screening, and the level of services. Some residents questioned whether the proposed screening would exclude people with histories the operator will not accept and thereby leave a different, potentially higher-risk population. "They cannot have a history of methamphetamine production, arson, sex offenders, those who pose a risk of violence, or anyone Fortune deems inappropriate. So since they get to pick and choose who lives at their 90 Seventh Street facility, that leaves us with the people that they don't want," Bernadette Ferrara, president of the Van Ness Neighborhood Alliance, testified.

Administration officials told the committee the city remains committed to the Just Home program but is reviewing the Jacobi location. Diane Savino, senior adviser in the mayor’s office of intergovernmental affairs, said the administration "is actively reviewing the Just Home project" and that the city "is developing a new proposal that would identify a different location for Just Home" while still seeking to deliver supportive and affordable housing at the Jacobi campus.

At the hearing’s close, the subcommittee chair said the public hearing was closed and the land-use application was laid over for later action. No final land-use authorization for the Jacobi site was taken at the meeting.

The testimony submitted to the committee and the witnesses’ statements highlight a split between reentry and public-health experts supporting an on-campus supportive-housing model and neighbors who say the site is the wrong fit and pressed for other housing priorities for the area. The council will continue to weigh technical details, community outreach and site alternatives before a final vote.

Details cited at the hearing about the proposed operations and services, and the administration’s statement about pursuing an alternate location, were drawn from testimony recorded at the meeting.