|
Listen to this article here
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
New York City is planning to house asylum-seekers in as many as 20 schools with free-standing gyms, according to Mayor Eric Adams.
“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. “Each gym, the 20 gyms that we are looking at, we have not made a final determination on all the gyms, but that we are looking at are separate from the actual school buildings. They are independent from the school buildings.”
The mayor did not reveal all of the locations but the first six appear to be in Brooklyn. The news angered some parents and community members who showed up at some schools protesting the mayor, according to ABC News.
“We’re not against them. They are all welcome, just not to our school, [and] next to our children,” Armis Rosa, a parent of a student at a Brooklyn school that will be used to house migrants, told WABC.
In a letter sent to parents of students who attend the affected schools, obtained by ABC New York station WABC, school officials promised migrant “individuals and families” would be confined to the school’s standalone gym saying: “This should not impact school operations, nor will the families have access to any other part of the school where students and staff are.”
Texas Gov. continues to ship human beings from Lone Star state as NY Gov. asks Biden for help
Following the lifting of Title 42 — a pandemic-era rule that allowed migrants the easier expulsion of migrants — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has continued to bus migrants to major cities like New York.
Local, state and city officials have voiced concerns about a lack of planning to accommodate the migrants as New York operates a shelter system above capacity and vows to send migrants to counties that have already declared a state of emergency.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul sent a letter to President Joe Biden last Friday requesting help from federal agencies to house migrants on federal land in New York, including military facilities.
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.
At least 65,000 asylum-seekers have come through the city to date, including 4,200 last week alone, officials said. Adams said the city expects as many as 15 buses this weekend.
Orange County voices concern and outrage over Mayor’s decision
In Orange County, New York, officials rebuked the mayor’s plans to send seven buses of migrants to the county Tuesday.
“We need the federal government to step up, but until they do, we need other elected officials around the state and country to do their part. New York City is out of space and we’re only asking Orange County to manage approximately one-fourth of 1% of the asylum seekers who have come to New York City, with New York paying for shelter, food, and services,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
In Orange County, two hotels in Newburgh accepted some migrants, however, a judge issued a temporary restraining order against the city Tuesday that prevents the mayor’s office from sending more migrants.
The 186 migrants who are residing at a hotel in Orange County will be allowed to stay in their rooms, however, if any of those individuals leave the hotels, New York cannot send other individuals to replace them.
ABC News reports Rockland County’s top official declared a state of emergency on Saturday in response to Adams’ plan to send 340 adult male migrants to live at a Orangeburg hotel for four months.
The next court hearing in the case is scheduled for June 21.