Cecil Hotel, a supportive housing project in Harlem.

​At a time when social services are facing sometimes difficult cuts, one organization is celebrating the funding it received from the city to rehabilitate a housing project in Harlem that provides homes and services to the chronically homeless.

Housing and Services Inc., or HSI, -- an organization that develops and manages affordable housing for New Yorkers with special needs -- announced this week that it has completed construction on its rehabilitation project for supportive housing at the Cecil Hotel in Harlem and the Narragansett Hotel on the Upper West Side. The projects were awarded $16.4 million from the city's Department of Housing Preservation and Development, HSI said.

The Cecil Hotel -- which in the 1990s was one of the city's first supportive housing projects of its kind according to HSI -- is located at 118th Street and St. Nicholas Ave. in a five-story building that once housed Minton's Playhouse, a legendary jazz club famous for its "bebop" music (The site is on the New York State Register of Historic Places).

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Dilan

​About two years ago, Picture the Homeless tried to get the City Council to make a yearly inventory of the New York's vacant properties -- asking Councilman Eric Dilan, housing and buildings committee chair, to give the group's proposal a hearing.

The City Council refused, with one member reportedly saying that "it would cost millions of dollars" to conduct an annual census.

Picture the Homeless, however, did its own study -- and found that it only cost $150,000 to analyze 1/3 of New York.

The conclusion: There are more empty buildings and lots than there are homeless people -- and more than enough property to give every New Yorker a place to live.

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​As we mentioned earlier, Mayor Bloomberg announced that the city will be shutting down NYCHA elevators in preparation for Hurricane Irene. Our Harry Siegel points out that a time frame was not issued for this move that will potentially affect hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers. An OEM spokesperson says that this will only be implemented in buildings located in Evacuation Zone A and any shutdowns will unlikely be enforced until after 5pm. A press conference will be held between 2pm and 4pm today that will hopefully clarify when exactly they plan on shutting down the elevators. Some NYCHA buildings are over 30 stories tall, so this information will be extremely important to residents attempting to evacuate. We can't find any specific mention of the elevator shutdown anywhere on the city's websites or in any hurricane preparedness PDAs or other downloads. We'll update as soon as a time frame is issued. This is a good time to review the city's evacuation zone map. [@nickgreene]

​Cops shot and wounded a teenager in East Harlem at 3:15 a.m. Sunday after a chase on foot during which he fired on three sergeants and an officer, all of whom were in plainclothes, according to the NYPD. Matthew Melendez, 18, of 1695 Madison Avenue, in the Taft projects, was hit three times and was in stable condition.

NYPD officials told reporters, according to accounts in the Times and Daily News, that the four cops approached Melendez on East 119th Street because they thought, from the way he was adjusting his waistband, that he had a concealed weapon. Witnesses told reporters that they heard the cops yell, "Police! Stop!" He ran east on 119th and, the News says, "whirled and fired" at the cops near Third Avenue. He was then shot along Third Avenue, near 120th Street. Cops said they recovered a handgun near where he fell.

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Have you seen Michael Tiegel?

​Cops are looking for Michael Tiegel, a 28-year-old guy who was last seen at 2 a.m. Sunday, January 30, inside 1694 Madison Avenue, in the Taft projects just north of Central Park.
Tiegel's described at 5-9, 180 pounds, with brown eyes and black hair. He was wearing a black jacked, red hoodie, jeans, and brown boots. He's known to frequent the subways.

Tipsters can call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or submit tips at nypdcrimestoppers.com or text info to 274637 (CRIMES), entering TIP577.

Suspects in Friday night Fort Greene shootings

​Cops are looking for four suspects after five teens were wounded by gunfire Friday night outside Bishop Loughlin High School in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, after a basketball game with Christ the King High School.

The next day, a 16-year-old girl was shot in the face at the Seth Low Houses in Brownsville. The carnage sparked a protest rally in Fort Greene the evening before Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Despite the boasts by Mayor Mike Bloomberg and top NYPD officials about the drop in crime, violence in the city's housing projects sharply increased last year, the Daily News says this morning.