A shelter for homeless men that will house up to 130 clients has begun accepting clients at West 262nd Street and Broadway in North Riverdale. The Van Cortlandt Rapid Rehousing Center opened after a ribbon-cutting last month, following years of community opposition and delays. Westhab, which now owns and operates the site, bought the property for $4.75 million in December 2023 after taking over a project initially connected to the African American Planning Commission, The Riverdale Press reported.
The opening adds transitional housing in a city system where single adults have made up a substantial share of those served and shelter stays have often been lengthy. A New York City Comptroller’s review found that, in FY2022, single adults accounted for 72% of the population served by the Department of Homeless Services, while average stays across all populations exceeded a year. Those are systemwide figures—not measures of the new center’s residents or results—and they do not establish how quickly anyone there will move into permanent housing. The Comptroller’s review provides that broader context.
Services, stays and the proposed contract
The Riverdale Press reported that the center offers job training, counseling, mental-health services and life-skills workshops, along with connections to health care, substance-use treatment and GED resources. Its reported amenities include a dining room overlooking Van Cortlandt Park, a recreation room, computer room, library and multipurpose rooms. Westhab also told the outlet that the facility would provide outdoor space.
A Westhab spokesperson told The Riverdale Press that stays at the nonprofit’s facilities typically range from six months to a year, with the goal of helping residents move on as soon as they can. That description is a provider-reported typical stay, not a forecast or measured outcome for this newly opened center.
The project’s proposed city contract also grew during the handoff between providers. The Riverdale Press reported that the proposed value rose from an earlier $195 million figure to $355 million after Westhab took over—an increase of more than 80%. The proposed contract value is not, by itself, evidence of how much has been spent or what the center’s outcomes will be.
Community concerns and oversight context
Neighbors raised concerns during the years-long debate and have continued to ask about oversight, including how rules would be enforced and whether background checks and curfews would help prevent loitering. In responses reported by The Riverdale Press, a Westhab spokesperson said staff and security would be present around the clock, patrol cars would monitor nearby streets, and loitering outside the building would not be allowed. Westhab and the city’s Department of Social Services were also developing a community advisory board, the outlet reported. These are reported plans and responses, not an independent assessment of day-to-day operations.
A New York State Comptroller audit offers historical oversight context, but not a finding about this shelter: its May 2018 review of security spending at four sampled New York City shelter providers identified nearly $2.2 million in insufficiently documented or questionable expenses. The audit concerned those sampled providers and does not establish the security conditions or spending practices at Westhab’s North Riverdale center. The state audit’s follow-up report describes that finding.
