NEW YORK — After protests and outcries, Mayor Eric Adams mentioned Monday the migrant relief center beneath development at Orchard Seaside within the Bronx will transfer to a different location.
Adams mentioned he is altering course because of flooding considerations after the latest storms. However there have been calls from some Bronx residents to maneuver the ability someplace else, CBS2’s Kevin Rincon reported.
Since final week, employees have been development what town calls a Humanitarian Emergency Response and Reduction Middle. However that work will now be undone.
In a press release, Adams mentioned New York Metropolis Emergency Administration decided “relocating the Orchard Seaside humanitarian reduction heart to Randall’s Island is essentially the most environment friendly and efficient path ahead, and work is underway to make this transfer.”
Monday, whereas work continued on the migrant camp, dozens of Bronx residents gathered within the car parking zone to say “not in our again yard.”
“I really feel unhealthy for these individuals. They’ve to return over the fitting method,” one individual instructed CBS2’s Andrea Grymes.
Flooding was among the many points raised by Bronx residents at a protest hours earlier than the mayor’s announcement.
“I am a Democrat and I am standing right here shoulder to shoulder as a result of it is mistaken, humanitarian – how dare they put immigrants in a flood zone,” mentioned Co-op Metropolis resident Al Quattlebaum.
Some residents, together with many Bronx Republicans, had been planning to sue town. That they had considerations, together with security and if the migrants had been being vetted.
“These individuals which are being despatched right here, they are not all criminals. However in any group this dimension, there’s going to be a felony factor,” mentioned Patrick McManus of the Bronx County Conservative Get together.
“We do not do any screening aside from of discovering out the wants of individuals and guarantee that we correctly give them the sources they want. And we will present the general public security. That is my duty,” Adams mentioned.
As of Monday, there have been greater than 16,000 asylum seekers within the metropolis. Many had been bused right here immediately from the southern border.
Randall’s Island will present short-term shelter to 500 of these migrants as they face what the mayor known as a humanitarian disaster.
“Far proper is doing what’s mistaken. Far left is doing nothing in any respect. It is time for us to handle this in a unified method, and that is what we’re doing, this administration is doing,” Adams mentioned.
The mayor’s workplace mentioned it continues to attempt to discover different options to shelter the migrants. Cruise ships are nonetheless into account.
Right here is the mayor’s full assertion:
New York Metropolis has, by itself, safely and effectively offered shelter, well being care, training, and a number of different companies to greater than 16,000 asylum seekers pursuing a greater life over the previous couple of months. As we now work to open town’s first Humanitarian Emergency Response and Reduction Middle, security for these looking for asylum stays our high precedence. Following this weekend’s storms, New York Metropolis Emergency Administration decided that, whereas we’d be capable to put in place the mandatory ponding mitigation measures, relocating the Orchard Seaside humanitarian reduction heart to Randall’s Island is essentially the most environment friendly and efficient path ahead, and work is underway to make this transfer. This new location is much less vulnerable to flooding, is nearer to public transportation, and can present short-term respite to 500 asylum seekers. We anticipate this website to open in roughly the identical timeframe because the initially deliberate location, and we proceed to construct out our choices and discover extra websites as we deal with this humanitarian disaster created by human palms.
