Migrants driven from NYC arrive at Colonie hotel
COLONIE — A group of asylum-seekers driven from New York City arrived at a Colonie hotel early Sunday morning, one of many groups upstate communities are now hosting as the city says it can not handle the continuing influx of tens of thousands of international migrants who have arrived there.
Around 25 men transported from New York City checked into the SureStay Plus by Best Western Hotel on Wolf Road in Colonie sometime after midnight, Colonie Supervisor Peter Crummey said. A handwritten note on a large sheet of paper at the entrance of the hotel Sunday said "Bienviedos, Bem-vindos, Welcome!"
A company called DocGo, which is contracted by New York City, was at the SureStay to assist with logistics — along with at least four security guards to keep the public and media away from the asylum-seekers. The nonprofit Columbia County Sanctuary Movement, as well as attorneys from Albany, were also there to help. A shuttle bus was also taking those newly arrived Sunday to nearby locations, such ShopRite, the post office on Central Avenue and the Albany Public Library's main branch. The SureStay's owner was on-site Sunday, and declined to comment.
A man from Venezuela named Angelo, 34, was in the hotel's lobby Sunday with about six other men, either waiting to speak with attorneys or get on the shuttle bus. Everyone was wearing athletic clothing, some with baseball caps and everyone had a “Guest ID badge” hung around their neck so they could check in and check out.
"We've only just arrived, and so far we've received barely any information," Angelo told the Times Union through an interpreter. He added that he's doing fine, but is tired.
Angelo's journey through the U.S. started at least a couple of weeks ago in El Paso, Texas, before he said he traveled through Louisiana and up the East Coast to New York City. Once he was there, he said he got vague information about work availability upstate. He said he took the arduous journey from South America alone.
The asylum-seekers arrived in Colonie just hours after the town supervisor sent out a lengthy statement Saturday night alleging that New York City Mayor Eric Adams failed to notify the Albany County executive’s office of the plan, a violation of a county executive order issued Tuesday.
“The county executive put out an order that required collaboration and coordination and a deliberate plan amongst state, county and local officials as well as not-for-profit organizations. That was never done with the town of Colonie,” Crummey said on Sunday.
In his statement, Crummey wrote that the Wolf Road area was not equipped to service “an influx of persons of unknown health, dietary, and behavioral histories.” When asked Sunday what he meant by “behavioral histories,” the supervisor said the town has not been informed of the social services the asylum-seekers might require upon placement.
He noted that Albany County Executive Dan McCoy's May 23 executive order required that the county be notified to coordinate housing for migrants and asylum-seekers being transported here, and that only the county social services commissioner could issue licenses to hotels, motels or other dwellings to house groups of people. Crummey emphasized that his frustration is regarding the lack of coordination rather than the asylum-seekers themselves, adding that he was not notified about the sheltering plan until late Friday night and that the delay felt “contrived” and “purposeful.”
With Albany’s designation as a sanctuary city, Crummey wondered why there was not more of a push to relocate migrants within city lines where he says there are more resources available within walking distance.
“I’m stunned that they wouldn’t have really fought tooth and nail to receive these folks who have been victimized being transported all around the country. This is about the welfare of the migrants and Adams displayed a total disregard for their safety,” he added. Crummey said the Wolf Road hotel has had problems, with more than 200 police calls to it in the past 18 months.
Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan responded later Saturday night in her own statement alleging that: "For the Colonie town supervisor to say that the city of Albany had a hand in steering the bus to a hotel on Wolf Road is an outright lie."
She told the Times Union in an interview Sunday that she was notified Thursday during a call with New York City officials that buses of asylum-seekers would be sent to Albany “imminently.” When informed which locations were selected, she said she responded that two of the hotels on Wolf Road — a Motel 6 and the SureStay — were not located in Albany and that Colonie officials needed to be contacted. She also said she called McCoy afterward and gave him the details of the conversation.
Sheehan was later informed that only one bus would be arriving and that it would be sent to the SureStay, she said.
The hotel having an Albany ZIP code could explain why an entity chose that location to house people. “These were decisions that were made by people who weren’t really looking at a map and who were looking at these Albany addresses,” Sheehan added.
The Ramada Inn, located at 3 Watervliet Ave. in Albany, was also named as a potential location to house the migrants but was met with apprehension from Sheehan, who voiced concerns regarding the number of police calls the city gets there. “This is a vulnerable population and I think it’s incumbent upon New York City to ensure they’re not putting them into an environment where they could potentially be taken advantage of,” she said, adding that the city of Albany provided names of other hotels within the city. She did not specify the names of those hotels.
The county executive had been in contact with the mayor late Friday night, indicating that he was trying to “avoid sending individuals to Colonie,” according to Sheehan, who called the town supervisor's response “morally reprehensible.”
“These are human beings who are here legally, who want asylum in our country, and by all evidence will do anything and everything to ensure that they follow the law so that they are able to gain asylum in our country,” she said.
McCoy put out a statement Sunday afternoon that said Albany County already must tackle its unhoused issue, with 730 individuals who currently need permanent housing.
"Sending migrants to us without a plan in place is not the answer," McCoy's statement read. "We need direct communication with Mayor Adams to find the best solution, so this isn’t creating further chaos."
Brendan J. Lyons and Steve Hughes contributed to this story.
Source: Times Union
