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The city is moving 110 unvetted vagrant men into a shelter in quiet Sheepshead Bay, terrifying neighbors who fear the influx could bring violent criminals and sex offenders to their doorstep.
Crime began creeping into the normally peaceful Brooklyn neighborhood after the former Gold Star Inn on Emmons Avenue was converted into a homeless shelter for families about a year ago, residents told The Post.
But now the city is booting the 55 families to make way for single homeless men as early as next week, and neighbors are petrified crime will spiral further.
“People are breaking into cars, people are destroying the park, taking their pants down in the park,” lamented a man who identified himself only as Fahad, 30, a plumber from Brighton Beach. “It used to be very quiet.”
Shooting incidents are up 400% so far this year in the 61st Precinct, which encompasses Sheepshead Bay, and retail theft is up 10%, according to NYPD data. Reports of rape have doubled so far in 2026, to 16 from 8 at the same time last year.
To make matters worse, the city will not screen the wave of incoming hobos for prior sexual offenses.
“The Department of Homeless Services confirmed that no criminal background vetting will take place, leaving room for potential sex offenders and convicted felons to come in contact with our children,” City Councilwoman Inna Vernikov (R-Brooklyn) raged in a letter sent to the city’s Department of Social Services this week.
“This will be devastating for the surrounding neighborhood and community. We have seen the impacts of bringing a single adult male shelter into a residential community: loitering, drugs, and criminal activity,” added Vernikov.
The news was worrisome for area residents.
“Not checking the background is not very diligent of the city,” said Ginny, a 50-year-old neighbor who didn’t want to give her last name. “How can say they are protecting children when they allow that? There are also elderly people who can be targets.”
The shelter is across the street from Lew Fidler Park, a popular family hangout that includes a playground.
“Someone who was just released from prison is now living at the shelter. . . . I don’t want it to get worse. I’m worried,” neighbor Olga Adynets, 37, originally from Moscow, told The Post.
The nonprofit that operates the shelter is itself at the center of a massive federal corruption probe that’s looking into whether prominent Democrats accepted bribes in exchange for giving it lucrative taxpayer-funded contracts.
In March, the executive director of BHRAGS — a Brooklyn-based homecare provider-turned-shelter operator in 2022 — Roberto Samedy and its former board chairman, Jean Ronald Tirelus, were indicted on federal charges for allegedly raking in $1.3 million in illicit payments, wire fraud and embezzlement.
Despite this, the troubled organization was handed nearly $200 million in new city contracts by Mayor Zohran Mamdani in June.
City officials blamed Mayor Eric Adams’ administration for bringing the troubled shelter provider into the fold to deal with the migrant crisis, telling The Post and they got rid of “bad actors” and that the nonprofit is under new administration. They said it slashed BHRAGS’ portfolio from nine shelters to four.
A spokesperson also said the shelter was being converted because there were more single homeless men and fewer families entering the system — and the city prefers to place families in traditional shelters instead of hotels.
“The agency continues to address the prevalent stigma against single adult men experiencing homelessness,” a DSS spokesperson told The Post. “The agency also implements good neighbor policies while maintaining open lines of communication with the community to address any concerns as they arise.”
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