NEW YORK — The tents have to go. That’s the message from a community group pushing for a migrant shelter at Randall’s Island.
That group is threatening legal action, but city officials said Tuesday they have no alternatives.
From the beginning, community groups did not like the idea of usurpation eight acres of ball fields and parks on Randall’s Island for a 3,000-bed migrant shelter. Now, after months of what one group calls violence, fights and reports of illegal activitiesthe Randall’s Island Park Alliance says it’s time for the city to fold up the tents, remove the beds and hit the road.
“It is to the detriment of everyone: those temporarily housed in the park, along with the thousands of New Yorkers denied access to the park,” the group said in a letter to Mayor Eric Adams. “Besides, it’s illegal and it’s time for it to end.”
The letter emphasizes that the city violated the law by establishing the shelter without following required environmental reviews and legal process for using parks for non-park uses. And if the city does not vacate the shelter by August 8, the alliance said it would “strongly object and is prepared to use all legal remedies.”
Why New York City says it has no other options
The move leaves city officials in a quandary as asylum seekers continue to pour into the city – with 1,300 newcomers arriving last week alone.
“We have no alternatives. And so this is a way that we can expand our resources and house people and really keep pace with the flow of migrants coming into New York City without having to sleep through the night. onto the streets,” said Deputy Mayor Meera Joshi bluntly.
Adams suggested that the Randall’s Island group was like all other elected officials who want migrants to be taken care of, but not where they live. Apparently he plans to write about it.
“When you see the hypocrisy of people who say, bring us your tired and weak people, your huddled masses longing for freedom, but not on my block,” Adams said.
Randall’s Island Park Alliance seems extremely serious
Kramer reported that the group is demanding that the city come up with a plan to remove the shelter by June 14.
She said the group wants to get rid of the shelter because they want the park back. Before the shelter was built, children from all over the world played baseball and football and locals in the neighboring community of East Harlem went there for picnics. and enjoy the scenery. Now they say illegal mopeds are traveling at high speeds over the pedestrian bridge and park paths.
Kramer said a spokesperson for the group declined to say what the exact timetable is for filing a lawsuit, but the city is between a rock and a hard place because it has run out of room and places to build new facilities to open.
Marcia Kramer
