Borden Avenue Still Shuts Out Donors and Elected Officials While Granting Access to Private Interests

Timothy Pena • October 11, 2026

Veterans Affairs Disability Claims May Be Fraudulent. DHS And ICL Gave Access.

LONG ISLAND CITY - For nearly four years, I have questioned why New York City's Borden Avenue Veterans Residence restricts access to elected officials, community organizations and charitable donors while permitting selected outside organizations to operate inside a publicly funded shelter housing Veterans Affairs eligible transitioning veterans. 


Operated by the Institute for Community Living (ICL) under contract with the Department of Homeless Services (DHS), Borden Avenue has become an example of selective access, questionable financial transparency and inadequate oversight. The central question remains: Who is protecting these veterans, and who is benefiting from access to them?


The controversy again surfaced this past week when New York City Council Members Julie Won and Phil Wong were denied entry during an unannounced visit on October 1, 2026. Despite Allied Security insisting that they not come in, the Councilmembers entered anyway.


According to the Queens Daily Eagle, both lawmakers subsequently declined to participate personally in an announced tour conducted on October 7, 2026, expressing concern that officials would see a staged presentation rather than ordinary living conditions. Council Veterans Committee Chair Frank Morano and several officials from Department of Veteran Services Commissioner Ysenia Mata and Department of Social Services did enter and observed leaking pipes, crowded sleeping quarters and inadequate privacy.


These restrictions are not new. Former Veterans Committee Chair Robert Holden reportedly was required to sign a nondisclosure agreement before distributing donated winter clothing. Representatives of Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 32 also encountered restrictions.


As recent as June 2026, CM Phil Wong and VVA Chapter 32 donated hundreds of dollars worth of fans, shower shoes, and other hygiene items. 


Yet organizations such as US Patriot Fund and Project Renewal were reportedly granted access for activities raising separate questions about financial accountability and veterans' rights.

Disability Claims, Privacy and Financial Accountability


My February 2025 investigation, Veterans for Sale: Exploiting Homeless Veterans, identified John Baglivi and US Patriot Fund as having access to Borden residents for disability-claims assistance. According to information I subsequently received, Patriot Fund was prevented from returning to Borden only after my article exposed these activities.


That timing raises an obvious question: If the organization presented a risk to veterans, why was it permitted access until the activities became public?


In one recorded video, Baglivi is heard telling a veteran:

"I just filled it (Intent to File) out for you...Let's get you paid."


Preparing and representing VA disability claims are regulated activities. Individuals providing claims representation generally must be accredited by Veterans Affairs as attorneys, claims agents or Veterans Service Organization representatives. Although a veteran may file an Intent to File personally, Baglivi's statement raises questions about his role, accreditation status and whether residents received appropriate protections.


Equally troubling is the reported collection and publication of veterans' personal information in videos associated with fundraising appeals. Publicly identifying homeless veterans while discussing disability claims or medical circumstances raises serious confidentiality concerns.


Such disclosures may implicate HIPAA when protected health information is improperly disclosed by a covered entity or business associate. Whether these particular disclosures violated HIPAA requires investigation into consent, the information disclosed and the organizations' legal responsibilities. Regardless, veterans should never have to sacrifice medical privacy to receive assistance.


A Commercial Kitchen Without Financial Transparency


Project Renewal's reported operation of a culinary training program inside Borden raises another accountability question.


Financial statements reviewed for the Borden Report 2026 identify $0 for kitchen personnel, despite a facility budget exceeding $9.2 million. Approximately $539,473 is allocated for food, yet there is no separately identified financial accounting in the materials reviewed establishing what Project Renewal pays for kitchen access, equipment, utilities or other resources. An added insult is that a veteran student in the culinary program told me that non-veteran students were taking food from the trays home and leaving the scraps for veteran’s meals.


Veterans have also questioned why donated Thanksgiving food was not prepared in the facility's kitchen while residents received institutional meals. These concerns deserve examination rather than dismissal. Again, Thanksgiving meals would have to be provided outside of the facility because of the ‘no access’ rule. 


Who Is Accountable to the Veterans?


DHS, ICL and Veterans Affairs had responsibilities to protect the veterans participating in the federally supported Grant and Per Diem program. Yet donors faced restrictions, elected officials encountered barriers, and selected outside organizations reportedly received access without sufficient public explanation.


The scheduled October 21 City Council oversight hearing should demand visitor-access records, accreditation verification, privacy authorizations, donation inventories, Project Renewal agreements and financial accounting for outside activities.


Homeless veterans are not fundraising exhibits, commercial prospects or institutional property. They deserve privacy, transparent management, meaningful access to community support and independent oversight.


After nearly four years of warnings, the question is no longer whether Borden Avenue needs oversight. It is why meaningful accountability has taken so long.

Sources and References

1.   Pena, Timothy. Veterans for Sale: Exploiting Homeless Veterans. February 2025. Supplied investigative articles and documentation.

2.   Schwach, Ryan. Officials Decry Conditions at Queens Veterans' Shelter. Queens Daily Eagle, October 8, 2026.

3.   Lee, Joshua. CM Wong, Vietnam Veterans Group Deliver Supplies to Homeless Veterans in Long Island City. QNS, June 17, 2026.

4.   Salameh, Nevine. Community for a Cause Raising Funds for Borden Avenue Veterans Residence. QNS, November 22, 2023.

5.   U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of General Counsel. Accreditation and Claims Representation.

6.   U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. HIPAA Privacy Rule.