NYC decision to move migrants from tent shelter to a school amid storm draws fire

Table Of Content

• Title 42 Has Ended. Here Are 7 Things You Need to Know About the US's Evolving Immigration Policy
• NYC is gearing up to use school gyms to house migrants, but only detached gyms.
• Migrants to be housed in 6 more NYC school gyms — outraged parents say plan is ‘just insane’
• Submit a tip or story idea to Eyewitness News
• Eric Adams defends axing FDNY firefighter whose death left family in financial ruin: ‘Tragic situation’
• Justin and Hailey Bieber cozy up during Hawaii vacation days after his crying selfie worried fans

First the city tried hotels, then tents, then a cruise ship terminal, then school gyms. As migrants have continued to cross the border, the mayor pleaded on Wednesday for understanding — and ideas. At least one of them, in Coney Island, was housing migrants on Tuesday. Before the surge in asylum seekers, the city was dealing with increased homelessness, packed shelters and a dearth of affordable housing. New York even announced a plan to send hundreds of migrants to hotels in suburban Orange and Rockland counties across across the Hudson River, angering local leaders.

Title 42 Has Ended. Here Are 7 Things You Need to Know About the US's Evolving Immigration Policy

By Wednesday evening, migrants were moved out of a handful of gyms where they had been staying, mostly located in Brooklyn, though the city said that the plan to use about 20 gyms could be revived as needed for temporary overflow. Josh Goldfein, an attorney with the Legal Aid Society, which helps monitor the city’s treatment of homeless individuals, said there were problems with the city’s decision to go outside their standard shelter options, such as hotel rooms. He pointed to a lack of shower access and compliance with the Americans with Disabilities at some school gymnasiums. City officials did not provide a full list of school gyms under consideration for emergency shelter, nor did they say which buildings are currently housing migrants.

NYC is gearing up to use school gyms to house migrants, but only detached gyms.

There’s an option for President Biden to add another three months to that clock. And if the company doesn’t find a buyer or refuses to be sold, it will be banned. And TikTok sent out this message to users on the same day that a House committee is going into vote on this bill and whether to move it forward. They go into vote, and they come out, and it’s 50 to 0 in support of the bill.

Migrants to be housed in 6 more NYC school gyms — outraged parents say plan is ‘just insane’

But back in the city, where two new busloads of migrants arrived Tuesday night, the decision to use school gyms has struck a nerve. In the afternoon, after classes dismissed for the day, the playground was unusually quiet. Parents said their kids were told they couldn’t play outside and that all after school programs were being held indoors. In Chicago, where officials have reported nearly 9,000 people arriving since August, hundreds of migrants who have come since mid-April have slept on the floors of city police stations. This month the city turned several park fieldhouses into “temporary respite centers,” canceling or relocated summer programs, prompting complaints from some parents.

Residents needed medical services, like blood draws, and families were concerned about medical waste as well as strangers wandering the hallways and stairwells. The mayor did not reveal all of the locations but the first six appear to be in Brooklyn. “Hotels are not the solution for these situations,” he said, adding that the optics posed problems for taxpayers who might think migrants are living in luxury at their expense. Vijay Dandapani, the president and CEO of the Hotel Association of New York City, said the city needs to come up with long-term solutions. "I feel they should have a different type of building or something for adults," one resident told News 4 New York. “No one wants to disrupt the lives of asylum-seekers nor those of our students, parents, teachers and principals,” he said.

Submit a tip or story idea to Eyewitness News

Mayor Eric Adams looks to house migrants in empty NYC public schools over the summer - New York Post

Mayor Eric Adams looks to house migrants in empty NYC public schools over the summer.

Posted: Wed, 05 Jul 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]

But many have been making the long and dangerous trip to the United States in recent months. About 100 Venezuelans were apprehended annually at the border between 2015 and 2018. More than 150,000 were apprehended between October 2021 and the end of August 2022. ” she said, adding the school gym only has one adult toilet and no showers. “Mayor Adams is scrambling to solve a problem that is not solved by risking the safety of not only the students but also migrant families,” said mom and PTA co-President Samantha Clark.

Eric Adams defends axing FDNY firefighter whose death left family in financial ruin: ‘Tragic situation’

The city has estimated that it would spend about $5 billion this fiscal year to house and feed migrants. Mr. Adams has said the cost would exceed $12 billion over the next three years, if migrants continued to arrive at the same rate. The city has also helped migrants leave the city for other counties in New York, angering some officials in other parts of the state. As Mr. Adams toured Latin America, many migrants on his route said they would continue their journeys on toward the United States and New York anyway, despite his warnings. The vast majority of Venezuelans are staying in other countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.

What we can VERIFY about a New York City high school housing migrants

Still, some parent leaders said ensuring that students and migrants aren’t in contact may require logistical coordination to manage nearby entrances and exits. Increasingly frustrated in recent months, the mayor has criticized President Biden and pushed for federal emergency aid. Officials representing some New York other suburbs also rebuked Adams' plan to send migrants to their towns for shelter. Earlier this year, dozens of migrants staged a protest after being evicted from hotel rooms and forced into barracks set up at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal, which has poor access to public transportation. They complained about the cold, the lack of privacy and not having enough bathrooms.

The city has proposed using a variety of locations as emergency housing for migrants. It has housed people in hotels, emergency tent shelters on Randall’s Island, school gymnasiums and office buildings and is now looking to new places, like the parking lot of a state psychiatric hospital. For Mr. Adams, the new arrivals have opened a fresh front in the public relations crisis over migrants, as public school parents led a series of protests over the use of school gyms this week.

The plan has drawn concerns about possible disruption to school activities and whether the spaces have adequate access to bathrooms and showers. As New York City officials scramble to find housing for an expected influx of migrants, the city is planning to house them in a stand-alone school gym in Coney Island, officials said Friday. As of Friday last week, New York City is beyond capacity for its shelter system with over 36,700 migrants housed across 120 locations, according to Hochul. She added that with no more shelter space, 40% of "mid-level hotel stock" in New York City is used for short-term respite centers. "This is one of the last places we want to look at. None of us are comfortable with having to take these drastic steps," the mayor told NY1 on Tuesday.

New York, which has a legal obligation to provide emergency housing to anyone who asks for it, has struggled to respond to the thousands of people arriving in the city. Adams also said all the gyms under consideration were stand-alone facilities, not directly connected to school buildings. It wasn’t immediately clear whether they would be used by single men or families, or how long the migrants would be allowed to stay. Many of the proposals have been met with pushback from residents, and in some cases the city has retreated. At one point, Mr. Adams seriously considered housing migrants on cruise ships. In all, the city had opened more than 214 shelter sites, including 18 humanitarian relief centers, for asylum seekers by September.

The move to use the gyms as shelters with six weeks still to go in the school year touched off an immediate backlash, with parents organizing protests at several schools and threatening to keep their kids home once migrants arrive. The press conference comes after more than 200 parents and New York City school officials held an "emergency meeting" Tuesday night to voice their concerns and protest against the city's migrant housing plan. The latest arrivals are in addition to 4,300 migrants arriving in the last week according to the city as it scrambles to find more temporary shelters. "Think about what's happening to our country. Just this week, we saw the news that a high s– that a school in Brooklyn, New York, had the kids stay home," DeSantis said. "They were not able to go to school, (were) told, ‘You can’t go get an in-person education.’ Why? Because the city's commandeering the school to house illegal aliens in it." Last week, thousands of migrants converged on the border ahead of Title 42’s end, but crossings have been significantly down in the past week.

And this sets off huge alarm bells for this small group of lawmakers. The way this letter is going viral right now is giving me the greatest sense of relief. Reading this letter, it becomes apparent to me that the actions of 9/11 were all just the buildup of our government failing other nations. And there’s this big messy argument spilling out into living rooms and all over the internet, and, of course on TikTok. For instance, there’s this moment in the fall where a bunch of TikTok users start sharing this old manifesto. But while the lawmakers are working on this bill, something big happens that kind of changes the politics around it.