Friends of the UWS to Save the Former Calhoun School Building
LOOK TO THE FUTURE
NYC’s future depends upon more education and affordable housing, not more shelters
OUR MISSION
Join Friends of UWS to help keep the former Calhoun School building.
We need your support to send the message that the UWS needs more schools and more permanent housing, not more temporary shelters. As Upper West Siders, we welcome diversity and inclusion and support safe schools and affordable housing. 160 West 74th Street is an ideal location.
Another crowded temporary shelter is not the answer. With your support, we can send a message to City Hall that shady shelter deals without community support are unacceptable.
THE CITY HAS REFUSED TO REVEAL THE DETAILS OF THIS BACKROOM DEAL
The Department of Homeless Service’s lack of transparency doesn’t represent the Mayor’s promise of open government.
The first we learned that the historic Calhoun School was being sold and developed as permanent housing was by the news media. The plan seemed acceptable— but now, an unknown developer, with no community ties or input, wants to convert the former Calhoun building into a homeless shelter to cash in on our community via a lucrative sweetheart deal with the city.
The burden of the costs are being shouldered by taxpayers.
The city will be unjustly enriching this developer for the next ten years.
196 homeless women and staff crammed into a historic school landmark district, is unsafe and inhumane.
City Hall must stop this deal that doesn’t represent our community’s priorities or values.
EMAIL THIS LETTER TO CITY HALL
To Save the Historic Former Calhoun School Building
FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE READ THE LATEST ON THIS CONTROVERSIAL BACKROOM DEAL
City Contract Reveals New Details on Incoming UWS Homeless Shelter: Opening Date, $79.6M Payment, Renewal Option
September 18, 2024
West Side Rag
When last we heard about the new homeless shelter for women scheduled to go into the old Calhoun School building on the Upper West Side, plans called for an opening this fall.
UWS Group Pleads with City to Rethink Calhoun Shelter Plans
April 15, 2024
NY Daily News
ilovetheupperwestside
August 24, 2024
Hoping to stop the former Calhoun School building at 160 West 74th Street (between Amsterdam and Columbus avenues) from becoming a homeless shelter, an UWS community group is appealing to
Neighbors Call on Adams to Reverse Plan to Convert Calhoun School into Homeless Shelter
August 23, 2024
West Side Spirit
The Calhoun School, which is still in business, sold the 150-year-old building for $14 million last year to a developer who said the plan was to build luxury condos. But neighbors felt
Upper West Side group suggests affordable housing for old Calhoun School building
August 22, 2024
PIX 11
An Upper West Side community group fighting the city’s plan to open a homeless shelter has a new idea: Use the former Calhoun School lower building on West 74th Street for affordable housing.
Op-Ed | Turning the former Calhoun School into a shelter is not the best use for the space
August 1, 2024
amNY
Albany’s newest unfunded mandate foisted upon New York City requires lower City class sizes and it must be fully implemented by 2028. It orders that classes from kindergarten to third grade will have a
NYC schools chief says parents don’t care about class size as he battles against state mandate
July 16, 2024
NY Post
New York City Schools Chancellor David Banks claimed Tuesday that parents don’t care if classrooms are overcrowded, as he argued against a billion-dollar-plus state mandate to
Why Upper West Side residents say they were misled about upcoming homeless shelter
June 17, 2024
amNY
Loss of affordable housing, overcrowded classrooms and a lack of transparency. These are some of the major concerns a group of Upper West Side residents have about the city’s plan to move forward with
Former Bronx motel to reemerge as an elementary school
April 26, 2024
crainsnewyork
A onetime “hot sheet” motel turned migrant shelter in the Bronx will soon start a new chapter as an educational facility after a city agency scooped up the Riverdale parcel for just above $9 million.
Nearly one in five NYC migrant students impacted by 60-day shelter policy left schools
Nearly one in five children evicted from New York City migrant shelters are no longer enrolled in the same schools, potentially disrupting the education of over a thousand students, according to data
Surge of migrant kids at NYC school could push special needs school out of shared building
March 25, 2024
NY Post
A space crunch at a Manhattan school building sparked by a massive influx of migrant kids is likely to force a city special needs school out of its home — and into an inadequate 127-
Questions Swirl over New Plans for the Old Calhoun School that Will House Homeless Women
March 1, 2024
West Side Spirit
Bayrock Capital bought the former Calhoun School and announced plans to turn the building into luxury condos. One local called it a “bait and switch” maneuver.
Shelter Plans For Ex-UWS Calhoun School ‘Problematic,’ Brewer Says
February 28, 2024
Patch
Plans to convert the site of the former Calhoun School into a 150-bed women’s shelter are “problematic” and has left local officials with “many unanswered questions.”
Former UWS Calhoun School Building Will Be Women’s Shelter For At Least 9 Years
February 28, 2024
West Side Rag
The former Calhoun School building on West 74th Street, between Columbus and Amsterdam avenues, will be a women’s homeless shelter for at least 9 years, according to new information
Battle Underway over Homeless Shelter that City Wants to Place in Former Calhoun School
February 10, 2024
West Side Spirit
City Council Member Gale Brewer appealed to Mayor Adams to block the city’s plan to convert the former Calhoun School on West 74th street to a women’s shelter.
Upper West Side residents shocked by plans for new 146- bed homeless shelter
WNYW-TV Online
January 2, 2024
Residents on Manhattan’s Upper West Side say they were left shocked by the sudden announcement of a planned 146-bed women’s shelter in their neighborhood. The shelter, which is scheduled to open
Upper West Side School Building to Become Apartments
ilovetheupperwestside
July 20, 2023
The Calhoun School has finalized the sale of its lower school building at 160 W. 74th St. to Bayrock Capital, a private investment firm, for $14 million. The building will be converted to residences according to