Group sues over new Brooklyn shelter

A new homeless shelter at 267 Rogers Avenue in Brooklyn is meant to fit 132 families, but only 10 families are allowed to live there, at least for now. A Brooklyn Supreme Court judge put a temporary restraining order on the Crown Heights shelter just one day after it opened.

The lawsuit was filed by the Crown Heights Block Association, which is pushing for permanent low-income housing instead of a shelter.

The Rogers Avenue shelter is one of five to open under Mayor Bill de Blasio's plan to overhaul the Department of Homeless Services system.

"We want those buildings ultimately to be affordable housing, too, we just need to address the homelessness issue first," de Blasio said Wednesday.

A DHS spokesperson responded to the lawsuit in a statement, which said, in part, "We're confident this matter will be resolved shortly so that we can give homeless families with children the opportunity to be sheltered in this high-quality facility as they stabilize their lives."

Rogers Avenue is the second shelter to be put on hold in Crown Heights. A 104-bed shelter for elderly men has been blocked for two months now following a lawsuit seeking better security and loitering restrictions at the facility.

A hearing for the Rogers Avenue shelter is scheduled for Thursday afternoon.