A ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Downtown Ithaca Conference Center and Asteri Apartments at 116-118 East Green Street took place at 12:30 PM on August 13th. Problems with fires, overdoses, and disturbances surfaced almost immediately after residents began occupying the building in early June.
Occupying the upper nine floors of the 12-story building, the Asteri Apartments include 40 units specifically reserved for individuals transitioning from homelessness. The conference center and Asteri Apartments are owned and managed by The Vecino Group, which also oversees The Arthaus in Ithaca’s West End. The Arthaus had a similar ribbon-cutting event in May 2022, while experiencing challenges nearly identical to those faced by the Asteri.
Attendees at the ribbon-cutting included Lieutenant Governor Antonio Delgado, State Senator Lea Webb, New York State Representative Anna Kelles, City of Ithaca Mayor Robert Cantelmo, City Manager Deb Mohlenhoff, Tompkins County Legislators Greg Mezey, Anne Koreman, and Dan Klein, along with numerous other members of local government, the Tompkins County Chamber of Commerce, and the Downtown Ithaca business community.
The Asteri has become the site of frequent visits from police, fire department, and ambulance personnel.
On June 21st, an umbrella was deliberately set on fire in the building’s stairwell. Numerous overdoses have occurred in the building since it opened.
Ithaca Police have also responded to the Asteri for a reported assault.
Multiple fights have been reported near the building’s entrance, and individuals have been sleeping on the benches outside, close to the entrance of the Cinemapolis movie theater.
Additionally, a person was found camping in a tent in the adjacent Green Street parking garage.
At the August 7th Ithaca Common Council meeting, Ithaca Commons resident Fay Gougakis described the mounting issues surrounding the Asteri, saying, “There’s urine. There’s needles. There’s dog poop. There’s fighting. There’s carts.” At the same meeting, Ithaca Common Councilperson Phoebe Brown mentioned that the building manager for the Asteri had already quit.
“I walked in and out that building and yes, it was a fight going on. And I was like, ‘Oh!’ I walked out and there was people begging,” Brown said.
Shopping carts are a frequent sight around the entrance to the Asteri, as residents use them to transport their belongings. A shopping cart full of bike parts was visible through the window of the bicycle storage area on the ground floor.
A source familiar with the building describes “dog shit everywhere,” with animal feces evident in the hallways.
What appeared to be dry human blood was visible on an emergency stairwell handrail.
One resident described living in the Asteri: “The building is nice. The apartments are nice. The people are ridiculous. We’ve already had the fire department for three different things. Someone set a fire in the frickin’ stairwell. There have been overdoses, and there’s trash in the apartments already. There have been fights outside. It’s just unbelievable.”
At the July meeting of the Ithaca Community Police Board, Police Chief Thomas Kelly commented on the Asteri, saying, “There have been a lot of members of the business community and the community who have been expressing concerns, so we’ve been actually working with some of the outreach groups trying to get ahead of some of the challenges that they’ve been facing in getting up and operational.” Kelly also mentioned a working group was meeting regarding the Asteri. A request for clarification was not returned.
A security guard present at the conference center ribbon cutting explained that, beginning on the evening of the 13th, two security guards will be patrolling the building.
In March, the Tompkins County Legislature’s Community Recovery Fund Advisory Committee voted to direct $95,000 of federal COVID-19 relief funds to The Vecino Group to hire a “move-in coordinator” for the Arthaus and Asteri buildings. This position was intended to assist those who were homeless with being successful in their transition to new housing. Referencing the Arthaus, Legislator Mike Sigler described this effort as a “triage.” “We can’t have this situation where we have police there three or four times a day. That’s an untenable situation to me,” Sigler said. “It’s just eating up so many resources.”
Vecino received over $21 million in tax abatements for the Asteri and conference center project that will be realized over the next 30 years. The project is also partially funded through the 5% county room tax paid by hotel and AirBnb guests.
In a press release, Governor Kathy Hochul touted the $96 million Asteri project as a successful example of her push to create new housing. “Asteri Ithaca is a transformative development that combines quality affordable, sustainable and supportive apartments for those who need them most, with a state-of-the-art Conference Center that will energize and elevate the entire City,” Governor Hochul said.
Audio and photos of the press conference that followed the ribbon cutting can be found below.