New Yorkers who routinely oppose homeless shelters in their neighborhoods "just need to get over themselves," according to Christine Quinn, the former City Council speaker now running a homeless services nonprofit.

Crime is down and property values are up surrounding her organization's newest shelters in Queens and Brooklyn, she said, countering common fears about the effects of homeless shelters.

"People have go to learn the facts and they've also got to dig down into themselves and find the gratitude for what they have and realize they need to help other people," said Quinn, the president and CEO of Manhattan-based Win, at a press availability Monday. "And when the politics gets tough and people are against it for no valid reason, then the elected officials, and I say this as a former elected official, need to plow ahead. 'Cause nobody's going to agree on everything in New York City."

Proposals for new shelters tend to incite local outrage akin to that triggered by waste transfer stations and methadone clinics. Crain's routinely receives press releases from politicians opposing homeless facilities proposed for their districts but has never received one supporting such a plan.

As a City Council member, Quinn herself opposed one Chelsea shelter. She still thinks it is too large for the population it serves, she said.

Elected officials, even those who call themselves progressive, often justify their objection to shelters by saying they would poorly serve the homeless. But the primary motivation is that their constituents fear disheveled, possibly inebriated homeless people hanging out, begging and committing crimes in the neighborhood. The homeless, meanwhile, have no power to affect elections.

"People just have misconceptions, and people are afraid of what they don't know and honestly they need to get over themselves," Quinn said. "Because we've got 4,700 people who will sleep with us tonight, 2,700 are children, they need our help," she said, referring to Win shelters in the city.

Quinn blamed a right-leaning tabloid for spreading images of the homeless that she said misrepresent the population.

"A lot of the images that people get about the homeless in my opinion are from the cover of the New York Post. And they're racist shots of single men, they're purposely picked men of color who are put on the cover to seem scary and 'them, not us,'" she said.

In reality, families make up 80% of the city's shelter dwellers, she noted, and 20% are young children.

Quinn was the early favorite to win the 2013 mayoral election and has not ruled out another attempt next year.