Elected officials say Staten Island migrant shelter is operating in violation of city codes, other regulations.

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — A group of Staten Island elected officials want the city and state to take a closer look at a Midland Beach migrant shelter they say is operating unlawfully.

In their letter to Gov. Kathy Hochul, Mayor Eric Adams, and John Greenwood — executive director of Homes for the Homeless, the owner and operator of the shelter at 1111 Father Capodanno Blvd. — the group contends the shelter is operating in violation of a host of city codes and other regulations.

Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-Staten Island/South Brooklyn), Borough President Vito Fossella, District Attorney Michael McMahon, State Sen. Andrew Lanza (R-South Shore), Assemblyman Michael Tannousis (R-East Shore/South Brooklyn) and Councilman David Carr (R-Mid-Island/South Brooklyn) sent the letter.

Homes for the Homeless partnered with the city last year to open a migrant shelter at the site that had been used as senior housing for over a decade drawing backlash from local elected officials, and the Friday letter made their latest arguments against the location.

“We demand accountability and adherence to the mission first established for Island Shores as you have a moral and legal obligation to this community. We will employ all available legal avenues to ensure compliance with the residency agreement and local laws governing the operation of this facility,” the group wrote. “There remains a dire need in Staten Island for affordable independent living residences for seniors, so taking this facility away from a vulnerable population of seniors and veterans is a slap in the face to our community.”

Previously, local elected officials opposed to the shelter’s operation highlighted the case of 95-year-old Frank Tammaro — a World War II veteran and former resident of the senior living facility known as Island Shores.

News first broke of changes coming to the location in September of 2022, when the Advance/SILive.com reported that Homes for the Homeless was moving to sell the building.

In a Sept. 26, 2022 letter to residents, Island Shores’ management sent notice that a possible sale meant the 53 people living there would need to find new housing by March 1, 2023.

City officials confirmed Sept. 19, about six months after Tammaro and his fellow residents had been sent packing, that they would convert the site into a shelter using 113 units in the building to house migrants in a 3-year contract worth nearly $30 million.

Homes for the Homeless declined to comment on the elected officials’ letter, and have shared no information on how the organization came to its current arrangement with the city despite elected officials’ efforts to connect potential buyers with Island Shores’ ownership.

Part of the elected officials’ Friday letter questioned why Homes for the Homeless made the sudden switch in plans from a sale of Island Shores to its current operation as a migrant shelter.

“As elected officials, our primaiy concern is the welfare of our constituents,” the group of elected officials wrote. “The closure of this facility without proper consideration of the community’s needs leads to our belief that financial gain, rather than community welfare, is the primary motivator behind Island Shores and Homes for the Homeless’ decision.”

The group also called the city’s contract into question as the owner of the property is listed as “Homes for the Homeless Institute Inc.” while the contracted organization is simply “Homes for the Homeless Inc.”

Additionally, the group of elected officials argued that the removal of the site’s former senior residents violated New York City tenants rights laws, and that its operation as a migrant shelter violated the building’s certificate of occupancy.

The elected officials argue that the shelter violates the occupancy use listed on the certificate of occupancy, and city officials have not answered whether that occupancy use would permit operation as a shelter.

However, Homes for the Homeless previously operated a traditional city homeless shelter at the location from its purchase in 1987 until 1999 when former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani declined to continue the prior city contract at the site.

Malliotakis said she expected the building’s occupancy use was part of the reason Giuliani discontinued the contract.

Neither the governor’s nor the mayor’s offices returned requests for comment about the group of elected officials’ letter.