NYC Opens $65 Million Homeless Shelter For Trans Individuals

Democrat-run New York City opened this week a new taxpayer-funded homeless shelter that will exclusively house individuals who identify as transgender. Costs for the project are expected to push north of $65 million.

Ace’s Place homeless shelter in Queens opened on Tuesday and is expected to cost taxpayers more than $65 million over the next five years, according to a report from the New York Post. The shelter, known as Ace’s Places, contains 150 beds for trans and gender-nonconforming individuals with nowhere else to sleep, the Department of Social Services announced Tuesday.

City officials have proudly hailed the site as “the nation’s first.”

The facility also maintains a full-time psychiatrist on site, as well as clinical staff and social workers, officials said. Individuals staying at the shelter will also receive a number of perks, including culinary and GED classes.

“New York City has long been a leader in advancing LGBTQ+ rights and protections, and we’re proud to continue that tradition with the opening of the nation’s first city-funded shelter dedicated to supporting transgender individuals,” NYC Department of Homeless Services administrator Joslyn Carter said in a statement.

Critics have slammed the project as “progressive political theater,” however, pointing to the hefty $65 million operating costs projection through 2030.

“Every New Yorker should feel safe in our shelter system. But instead of fixing the system for everyone, the city is spending $63 million to build a separate facility based on gender identity,” minority council leader Joann Ariola told the New York Post.

“That money should’ve gone to hiring more [Department of Homeless Services] police officers and social workers to make all of our facilities safer,” he added.“Instead, we are just further segregating the homeless system and ignoring the very real problems in favor of progressive political theater.”

The city is already required to set aside at least 30 beds specifically designated for trans people at every city-operated homeless shelter as a result of a 2021 settlement in which the city was accused of failing to prevent trans individuals from being harassed.

The Ace’s Places facility, while fully funded by the city, is being run by nonprofit Destination Tomorrow. “The city is keeping in line with what New York City has always been, a sanctuary city, a safe haven, but more importantly, a trendsetter when it comes to LGBTQ rights,” the organization’s founder, Sena Ebony Coleman, told The Gothamist.