Cuomo pledges to block controversial Brooklyn shelter proposed by Adams

Andrew Cuomo is pledging if elected mayor to stop a shelter development in southern Brooklyn that has drawn intense pushback from local residents, including the neighborhood’s Council member, who recently endorsed Cuomo’s bid for City Hall.

The shelter, planned on the corner of 86th Street and 25th Avenue in Bensonhurst, would provide beds, mental health counseling and substance abuse treatment for 150 homeless New Yorkers. The development was proposed by Mayor Adams’ administration in 2023 and would become the first homeless shelter of any kind in Bensonhurst.

Councilwoman Susan Zhuang, a conservative Democrat who represents the area, has spearheaded an aggressive campaign opposing the shelter that culminated last summer when she was arrested for allegedly biting an NYPD chief in the arm during a raucous protest at the site of the development.

Zhuang, whose criminal charges were dismissed last month after mediation with the cop she allegedly bit, recently endorsed Cuomo’s 2025 mayoral campaign and has urged constituents to support him, too, telling them he would if elected kill the shelter project, sources familiar with her outreach told the Daily News this week.

On Monday, Cuomo campaign spokesman Rich Azzopardi confirmed the ex-governor would indeed as mayor halt the shelter development, saying “the community’s feedback has been outright ignored and misunderstood” by Adams’ administration.

“Of course we need to get homeless New Yorkers the help and the resources they need, but we must look at the full picture when we determine where to place shelters and we believe that next to a school and a senior center is not the right place,” Azzopardi said.

Spokespeople for Adams and his Department of Homeless Services, which oversees the shelter construction, didn’t immediately return requests for comment.

Asked about campaigning for Cuomo, Zhuang said in a text message the 86th St. shelter plan is “just one issue that disproportionately impacts our community.”

“And Andrew Cuomo has proven time and again that he is the leader who is going to fight for AAPI New Yorkers across the city,” she added, using an acronym for the Asian-American and Pacific Islander community.

Homelessness is at an all-time high in the city, and Adams’ administration has argued more shelters and affordable housing must be built to combat the crisis.

Cuomo, who’s polling as the favorite to win the June 24 Democratic mayoral primary, also says more housing construction is needed, but has staked out some policy positions that critics say would exacerbate the city’s crises of surging rents and homelessness.

In addition to opposing the Bensonhurst shelter, Cuomo rolled out a housing plan last month that said he would as mayor object to most zoning changes that would allow for the construction of taller buildings with more apartments in “low-density” neighborhoods in the outer-boroughs.

That position sets him apart from many of the other 2025 candidates for mayor, including Adams, who say producing more housing across all neighborhoods of the city is a must.

Curtis Sliwa, the Republican mayoral nominee who could face off against Cuomo in November’s general mayoral election, has also been a prominent opponent of the Bensonhurst shelter and lauded the ex-governor for joining him in speaking out against it.

“Now let’s hope he goes even further,” Sliwa told The News. “He has to join us in the outer-boroughs and say no more shelters, no migrant shelters, no more ‘City of Yes’ because that’s what allows this to happen.”

The “City of Yes” is the rezoning plan Mayor Adams and the City Council adopted last year to spur housing production across all five boroughs.