A controversial homeless shelter in Orange County will be closing its doors for good and neighbors couldn?t be happier.

Camp LaGuardia, located on the town lines of Chester and Blooming Grove, is the largest shelter for New York City's homeless men. The city is closing the camp as part of Mayor Michael Bloomberg?s (R-NYC) five-year plan to decrease the number of homeless. Fran Winter of the NYC Department of Homeless Service says it will take the next couple of months to place all of the men currently at Camp LaGuardia into permanency. Winter says the permanency will involve jobs, housing and a means for the men to get on with their lives.

Residents living near the shelter say they will be happy not to see the men lingering on their streets and yards anymore. Some say now it will be easier to sell their home since the shelter will be gone. Orange County is purchasing the 250-acre site. Orange County Executive Ed Diana says it can be used for workforce housing, storage for new voting machines and perhaps as a corporate park.

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