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Emergency migrant shelter opens at Queens motel
An emergency migrant shelter has opened at a motel in Bayside, Queens. Migrants have already begun moving in, but nearby lawmakers say they were given just a few hours' notice of the decision, and that the motel is funded with taxpayer funds. While residents are happy to offer temporary relief, they hope this doesn't become the norm.
BAYSIDE - Over the weekend asylum seekers were moved into the Anchor Inn motel in Bayside, Queens.
According to Councilwoman Vickie Paladino, who represents the district, the motel is being used as an emergency migrant shelter. In a tweet posted on Saturday, Paladino says she got less than 8 hours' notice that the migrants were being moved in.
"The hotel has been contracted at $300,000 per month of taxpayer dollars for use as a shelter. Five other council districts received emergency shelters this weekend in the same manner, and I’ve been told that every district will get at least one," she tweeted.
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Paladino says that the motel has been contracted for 6-9 months, and although she was told 110 migrants were expected to fill the rooms, migrants who spoke to FOX 5 NY said that there were around 15 men staying at the motel currently.
Residents living near the hotel have mixed opinions about the migrants moving in.
"I'm glad we can do that for them, my family is immigrants my grandfather slept on someone’s couch, this is a better situation," said Adam, a Bayside resident.
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"I don't think we should use taxpayer money for something like this, but where do we put them? I don't know, I guess we have to do what we can at the moment," said Tom Lee who lives nearby.
According to the Mayor’s office, as of April 16th, over 55,300 asylum seekers have gone through the system and been offered a place to rest at night since last spring. Over 34,600 are currently in the city’s care, forcing the city to open 103 emergency shelters, and 8 humanitarian emergency response and relief centers.