Homeless sex offenders housed near school

NEW YORK (WABC) -- Angry parents are demanding answers after a building that was supposed to house families in need in Queens is now home to some dangerous sex offenders.

Parents and school officials say it's too close for comfort to an elementary school.

Outside the Skyview Men's Shelter, the men hang out in the evening for a smoke or a drink.

There are 174 homeless men in the shelter, and as many as 30 at any one time, are serious level two or three registered sex offenders.

They live two blocks from an elementary school.

No one who lived at the shelter wanted to be identified.

One man said that if he had a child, he would be concerned.

"Once a sex offender always a sex offender and it's too close to the school," a concerned parent said.

At PS 124, there was a sometimes raucous meeting with city officials and parents who say nobody talked to them before turning a family shelter they embraced, into a men's shelter they're afraid of.

Now parents can't let their kids walk to or from school alone.

Community leaders are trying to get the shelter changed back to a shelter for homeless families.

So far the city isn't buying that idea.

Homeless Services released a statement saying, "Pursuant to court orders, Homeless Services is under legal mandate to provide shelter to all homeless individuals or eligible families regardless of their criminal background, including sex offender status."

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new york city, queens, sex offender, new york news, jim dolan

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