If Kinston Cooper could, she would gladly give Natasha Harris her apartment and move somewhere else.
Ever since her landlord turned the Soundview building into a way station for Harris and other homeless people, the quality of life there has declined, Cooper said.
“The people coming in make me feel like I have to get out of here,” said Cooper, who has lived in the building at 1101 Manor Ave. for five years.
Cooper said she sympathizes with her new neighbors’ plight. In fact, before Cooper moved into her top-floor apartment, she too was homeless.
It’s just that under the city’s new “scattered-site” housing program, her new neighbors never stay for more than a few weeks, and consequently have no incentive to help maintain the building, she said.
The graffiti and garbage in the narrow hallways of the six-story building are starting to turn Cooper’s stomach.
Harris, on the other hand, has no complaints.
The homeless mother moved into a sparsely furnished one-bedroom unit in the Manor Avenue complex with her four children a day after applying to the city for placement.
“This place is real nice, considering,” said Harris, 20, as she balanced her 2-month-old twins on her lap. She also has a 1-year-old son and a 3-year-old son.
The night before, her family had slept at the city’s crowded intake center for the homeless near Yankee Stadium in The Bronx.
Harris said she had no idea how much the city is paying for her 10-day placement.
“That’s a lot of money,” she said when told it was $3,000 a month.