For the past two years Pontiac residents and the City have had concerns regarding the NYLO Hotel on Knight Street being used to house people who otherwise would likely be homeless.

The main concern was the lack of transparency. Karen Santilli, CEO of Crossroads said last week the agency won’t be using the hotel in the future.

That should be good news to neighbors and the city that aren’t happy with the way things have gone for the past two years.

In November residents and the City were surprised to learn Crossroads was using the hotel as shelter.

The program is funded through the Federal Emergency Management Agency and provides for the use of 150 hotel rooms.

While Crossroads has a plan in place to transition those staying at the hotel into permanent housing or shelter, the Pontiac Village Association is claiming that they were told that the vast majority of those staying there would be transitioned out before April 1.

The contract between Crossroads and NYLO ends March 31 however, there is an option for a one month extension until the end of April.

Last Wednesday Santilli told the Warwick Beacon 20 or 30 people may be staying at the hotel while more shelter beds open up the plan wasn’t to extend the contract.

“We don’t have plans to extend our contract,” said Santilli.

In a statement, the Pontiac Village Association said a board meeting was held on Feb. 21 with state Rep. David Bennett, Ward 8 Councilman, Anthony Sinapi, Mayor Frank Picozzi, state Sen. Kendra Anderson, along with representatives from the Warwick Police Department.

The Pontiac Village Association said Bennett informed those in attendance he had spoken to an administrative assistant for Raymond Simone, the Chief of Staff for the House and said that Crossroads would not be seeking an extension of their contract with NYLO.

According to the Association, Bennett informed those at the meeting that Crossroads CEO Karen Santilli “made arrangements to have her clients transitioned out of NYLO by March 31, 2022, having found housing for her clients, with the exception of one to two families’ (families is identified as a couple or pair or group, as there are no children sheltered at NYLO) that may be there through the first week of April, 2022, at the latest, as there were to be no new clients placed or taken in at NYLO effective March 1, 2022.”

“This seemed reasonable, seeing as though she has had since November to work on housing for her clients,” the statement read.

In a letter to Gov. Dan McKee, Picozzi and other legislators and government officials Santilli outlined a transition plan that Crossroads has crafted.

It was explained by Santilli that due to the pandemic many shelters have been closed or have reduced capacity due to social distancing concerns, which is one of the reasons why the gradual transition is needed.

“As the state’s public health leaders transition Rhode Island’s COVID response from one battling a pandemic to one that accepts COVID as endemic, Crossroads will begin to return to allowed capacity at its congregate shelter locations at Harrington Hall and on Broad Street to pre-pandemic levels,” said Santilli. “This decision will allow Crossroads to begin a deliberative, thoughtful, and responsible transfer of shelter guests from the NYLO over the coming weeks.”

“The Rhode Island Office of Housing and Community Development has been briefed on Crossroads’ transition plan for our shelter guests residing at the NYLO,” said Santilli.

“While it had been Crossroads’ stated desire to complete the contract with the NYLO on March 31, OHCD has asked us to maintain a limited presence at the hotel into April to ensure the smoothest possible transition for all of the individuals at the hotel and prevent any unnecessary strain on the state’s social service systems.”

The plan is:

- Effective immediately, Crossroads will begin communicating and working with shelter guests at the NYLO to identify permanent or improved housing plans. Additionally, we will begin to immediately inform stakeholders, neighbors, and community members of our transition plans.

- Effective March 4, Crossroads will no longer place any new guests at the NYLO. Beginning on or around March 14, Crossroads will begin transferring male shelter guests to Harrington Hall in Cranston.

- On or around March 28, Crossroads will transfer all women shelter guests to the Women’s Shelter on Broad Street in Providence.

- On April 1, Crossroads will end its full utilization of the NYLO hotel and begin a gradual reduction of its occupancy at the hotel through the month of April. Some shelter guests will remain at the NYLO during this transitional period.

- By April 30, Crossroads will have transitioned all guests from the hotel to improved emergency shelter or permanent housing.

“While some may be disappointed by this timeline, we agree that if the state moves too quickly to transition shelter guests or if the state were to end this and other similar contracts be capacity at congregate shelters, we risk forcing people out onto the street without shelter, which is what led to many people establishing unsafe tented communities at the start of the pandemic in places like Pawtucket, Providence, and in Warwick,” said Santilli. “ Regardless of the timing, though, we do expect a small number of guests to seek shelter at encampments.”

Lack of transparency

The issues with the City and neighbors not being notified of change of use for the hotel started last year when a similar program took place at the NYLO which was run by Amos House. The City became aware of what was happening after there was an influx of activity happening in the neighborhood which wasn’t all positive. Sinapi on Tuesday night said that he still hasn’t received a copy of the letter from Crossroads detailing the transition plan.

“With this latest development, the State and Crossroads continue their pattern of obfuscation. We were told several things last month, all of which are no longer the case. Yet again, no explanation has been provided as to the reason for the deviations, nor has even an attempt been made to provide such,” said Sinapi. “The State and Crossroads continue to treat this City and the Pontiac Neighborhood like we are not worth their time, and it needs to stop.”

On Tuesday the Association said “The Board as a whole is disappointed in the recent development, however, we are not surprised. We have been accused of being ignorant by Karen Santilli of CR because we expressed our concerns over the criminal behavior.”

“The well documented police, fire and rescue reports and records have proven that all of our concerns have been substantiated,” a statement from the Association read. “Our neighborhood and our city’s first responders have been dealing with drugs, prostitution, drunkenness, shoplifting in local businesses, breaking into vacant homes, arrests, drug overdoses and documented deaths, and harassing of neighbors, all related to the NYLO clients. There really is no other crime in this area otherwise.”

Crossroads has a 24/7 presence at the hotel. Tenants are separated by gender by floor with the exception of couples.

No children are being housed at the hotel and all tenants are 18 years old or older. A hot meal prepared by Amos House is provided daily. Tenants are responsible for their own laundry with the exception of sheets and towels that are changed weekly.

In response to concerns, Crossroads does not permit tenants to congregate in front of the hotel past a 9 p.m. curfew.

Residents are allowed to go outside for fresh air, to socialize or to smoke in the back of the building past that time. The back patio is now also open.

“We were pacified with little things such as keeping the clients in the back of the building to smoke and hang out, or ‘holding meetings to teach them how to be a good neighbor,” the statement from the Pontiac Village Association read. “None of it was enforced because we witnessed the CR clients hanging outside in the cold constantly, and activity that could only be construed as drug deals going on all the time. The clients left garbage and shopping carts from nearby stores all over the streets. Calls about this went ignored.

They have a beautiful building available to them, but they are still out in the streets panhandling and yelling obscenities at people.”

Council President Steve McAllister on Tuesday said “I was disappointed that the City learned of the extension through the press.”

McAllister said that he was first notified after hearing from Picozzi, after he received a press inquiry from the Warwick Beacon on Monday.

“We all have the same goal, to help people find safe and healthy homes. Partnering with the city can benefit these individuals,” said McAllister. “But, the groups running this program need to reach out to the City and keep us informed of their plans.”

Anderson said on Wednesday “the housing crisis has been in the making for a long time and I’m grateful to organizations like Crossroads who have worked tirelessly to shelter those without homes during these winter months while helping many people find permanent homes.”

“As the program at the NYLO winds down and we address the housing crisis at the scale needed to make sure every Rhode Islander has a warm and safe place to live, all of us need to do what we can going forward to support the work of places like Crossroads,” said Anderson. “In the future it is also important that state sponsored programs communicate effectively with municipalities and neighborhoods to keep them informed about the changes happening where they live and work.”

Ordinance in place

Just a month ago the Council passed an ordinance with hopes of having more communication in these types of situations.

The ordinance which was co-sponsored by the entire Council and approved last month reads “within twenty-four (24) hours of entering into a contract with the state to use a property in violation of a zoning ordinance, the property owner or operator at such property shall provide notice to and delivery of copies of such contract, or amendments thereto, and any related documents to the Mayor, City Council President, City Council Member where the property is located, and the Director of the Building Department.”

The council also passed a resolution calling on the General Assembly to allow for the same notice in the ordinance and to also to allow the city or town where the contract is happening to sign on as a third-party beneficiary.

The legislation would also provide the city or town “compensation amounting to three percent of the total consideration of the contract, provided, however, that the city or town shall not be obligated to use such compensation to mitigate the impact of the use of the property.”

The state contract with Crossroads is $3.8 million.

Picozzi said that his office was notified that the contract would be extended at 4:30 Monday afternoon.

“I understand Crossroad’s interest in achieving a compassionate ‘exit strategy,’ however, what they previously told residents fairly recently was that March 31st would be the deadline and that only a few families would remain while awaiting permanent placement,” said Picozzi. “I’m frustrated and unhappy that my office was not consulted or even given any advance notice.”

Picozzi said on Tuesday that he met via Zoom with staff from McKee’s office.

“ I asked if I could assume that there would be no further extension past April 30th, but they would not give a definitive answer,” said Picozzi. “Communication to city government and residents has been sorely lacking.”

On Tuesday Mike Raia, a spokesperson for Crossroads said “our contract with the NYLO allows for us to go into April and therefore doesn’t need an extension.”

“The contract with the state will have an amendment/extension to cover costs. We are submitting a letter to the NYLO today with the details of the contract amendment/extension we are requesting from the state,” said Raia. “We expect to receive a new contract from the State, but if FEMA gets extended, our current contract may be amended to include April.”

The Pontiac Village Association said “we are looking forward to having our neighborhood return to normal. Our Warwick PD will be monitoring the transition of CR clients out of NYLO to be sure they don’t return to our streets.”

“ It’s strange that CR claims to help these people, and yet the same ones are still lingering around year after year and not housed,” the statement read. “As if $3.8 million wasn’t enough – will Crossroads be getting more funding for this extension?”