Ex-Staten Island school to house migrants as locals fume
A former public school on Staten Island began taking in the first of 300 migrants expected to arrive starting Saturday – even as some local pols raged that surrounding neighborhoods received little notice and no assurances that the new arrivals were properly vetted.
The first dozen migrants had arrived by 3 p.m. at a temporary shelter site set up at the ex-Richard H. Hungerford School on Tompkins Avenue. Busloads of others were expected to follow later in the day.
A Post reporter spotted roughly 40 beds being set up in the cafeteria and other parts of the building for the early arrivals. About five cops were stationed at the former school.
Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella ripped the new shelter, saying “we’re seeing lunacy in action” with “no end in sight” as migrants continue to easily enter the U.S.
“This is the end result of failed policies at the border that are falling on the backs of Staten Island and [other] New York City taxpayers,” he said. “I feel for those who have to make these decisions, but Staten Islanders didn’t create this problem, so why should they play such a big role in having to solve it?”
Rep. Nicole Malliotakis called the migrant drop in her home borough the latest proof that the city’s “right-to-shelter” law – which was created in 1981 to predominantly to help homeless New Yorkers — is being taken advantage of by people “claiming to seek asylum.”
“This is unsustainable, and it’s ridiculous and a slap in the face to taxpayers,” the Republican congresswoman told The Post.
State Assemblyman Sam Pirozzolo, another Staten Island Republican, said he only was told Friday by Mayor Eric Adams’ reps that the site would be receiving the migrants, adding few specifics were provided.
Some local pols raged that surrounding neighborhoods received little notice about the move. Robert Miller
The city is so desperate to find housing migrants that it nearly moved some families into the gym of PS 188 on Coney Island in Brooklyn– but abruptly reversed course Friday following community outcry.
Meanwhile, Gov. Hochul wrote President Biden a letter Friday requesting the feds erect temporary housing for migrants at Floyd Bennett Field, the former military airfield in southeast Brooklyn near a bridge leading to the Rockaways.
City Councilmember Joann Ariola, a Queens Republican who represents Rockaway residents, said she found the request “shocking” and would fight it with “every fiber of my being.” She said the mass transit options near Floyd Bennett are limited to the Q35 bus line.
Rep. Nicole Malliotakis called the migrant drop a “slap in the face to taxpayers.” Twitter @SamForNYC
“Placing a migrant shelter in such an isolated location not only hampers the ability of migrants to access essential services and opportunities, but it also creates challenges for the local community in terms of transportation logistics,” she said.
Source: New York Post
