THE CITY COUNCIL WAS WARNED: Four Years of Warnings, Millions in Public Spending, and Veterans Left Behind

November–December 2022: DVS Receives Repeated Warnings

On November 17, 2022, I contacted Bianca Vitale, legal counsel for the Department of Veterans' Services (DVS), regarding inadequate food, restricted computer and library access, and housing delays. Vitale acknowledged the complaints and offered to contact the Institute for Community Living (ICL), Borden's operator.

On November 24, I published Veterans in Transition Need Access to Resources, documenting these conditions, including a veteran who missed an employment opportunity because the library was closed and another who slept outside Borden because he feared for his safety.

Further emails on November 30 and December 14 addressed dangerous conditions, emergency responses, nutrition, and mental-health risks. On December 15, I documented a conversation in which DVS Housing Director Lamarr Wheeler reportedly told me veterans should appreciate their accommodations because they could otherwise be living on the streets.

On December 17 and 21, I notified DVS officials, including Wheeler and Commissioner James Hendon, about reported veteran deaths and suspected overdoses.

January–March 2023: Senior Officials Acknowledge the Complaints

On January 3, 2023, DVS Assistant Commissioner Jason Loughran responded to my correspondence, copying Wheeler, Vitale, Hendon, and other officials. He confirmed that my concerns had been referred to DHS.

My January 6 report, Borden Avenue Veterans' Residency: Summary of Experience, documented five months of observations involving violence, emergency responses, inadequate food, restricted resources, and housing delays. It recommended veteran navigators, improved nutrition, transportation, computer access, and safer accommodations.

On March 29, Commissioner Hendon again confirmed that DVS had forwarded complaints to DHS and maintained personnel at Borden Avenue.

April 2024: The “Cadillac of Shelters”

During an April 17, 2024 Veterans Advisory Board meeting, Wheeler described Borden Avenue as the “Cadillac of shelters.”

The statement came seventeen months after my first written complaints and more than a year after senior DVS officials acknowledged forwarding concerns to DHS.

My December 2024 investigation, A Tale of Two Transitional Programs, compared Borden Avenue with MANA House, examining security, food, transportation, housing assistance, and access to VA services.

Millions Spent While Emergency Responses Continued

Borden Avenue's annual operating budget exceeded $9 million, including approximately $1.09 million for contracted security. NYPD records analyzed in the Borden Avenue Report 2026 identified 1,365 emergency-service events between August 2024 and December 2025, including 879 ambulance cases, 73 overdose calls, and 75 assault calls. Separate records identified 82 arrests between September 2022 and December 2025.

The report also modeled $4 million to $8 million in potential secondary emergency, medical, and criminal-justice costs over approximately sixteen months.

I subsequently served on New York City's Veterans Task Force as a veteran with lived experience and was later removed following continued criticism of Borden Avenue and GPD administration. In November 2025, I publicly requested City Council oversight hearings, whistleblower protections, and an alternative veteran-exclusive GPD facility. I later pursued federal litigation.

October 2026: The Program Ends, but the Conditions Remain

On October 8, 2026, the Queens Daily Eagle published Ryan Schwach's investigation, “Officials decry conditions at Queens veterans' shelter,” documenting continuing complaints about violence, drug activity, inadequate food, overcrowding, and difficulties obtaining housing vouchers.

Following an announced inspection, City Council Veterans Committee Chair Frank Morano and Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez toured Borden Avenue. Morano described leaking pipes covered with tarps, crowded sleeping quarters, and cubicles smaller than jail cells.

Council Members Julie Won and Phil Wong had previously been denied entry during an unannounced visit. They criticized the facility's conditions and questioned whether the announced inspection reflected everyday living arrangements.

Residents interviewed by the newspaper described frequent fights, drug activity, poor food, and housing delays. The article also reported complaints that the facility's kitchen was used for culinary instruction rather than preparing meals for residents.

The inspection followed New York City's withdrawal from the federal GPD funding arrangement that had supported Borden Avenue for approximately twenty years. City officials attributed the decision to federal conditions concerning transgender veterans. The Council's Committee on Veterans scheduled an oversight hearing for October 21, 2026.

The chronology extends from community warnings in April 2022 through documented DVS correspondence, published investigations, emergency-response records, and elected officials' observations in October 2026. During that period, veterans continued reporting many of the same conditions.

I never wanted the GPD program eliminated. I just wanted New York City to make it work.