NYC migrant crisis: Staten Island demonstrators block bus during protests
STATEN ISLAND - There was more mayhem on Staten Island during yet another night of intense protests.
The NYPD was called Tuesday night to Father Capodanno Boulevard for reports of crowd control issues after demonstrators blocked a city bus thought to be carrying asylum seekers.
Ten people were taken into custody.
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Nine of them were given summonses for disorderly conduct and the tenth person, a 48-year-old man, is still awaiting potential charges.
The protests were provoked by the city’s apparent decision to transform a former senior living facility in Midland Beach into the latest migrant shelter.
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The month of September has seen numerous nights of protests across Staten Island, where hundreds of demonstrators have marched through the streets with megaphones, signs and American flags.
The borough has been at the center of New York City's migrant crisis since the end of August, when the Adams administration started to house asylum seekers at St. John Villa Academy.
The former Catholic school has been transformed into a 300-bed makeshift shelter, and is now the site of rallies often led by the borough’s Republican elected officials.
A Staten Island judge initially ruled the city couldn’t use St. John Villa Academy as a shelter, but the city appealed and had the ruling overturned.
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Republican lawmakers have since filed a lawsuit to have the shelter shut down.
New York has been dealing with an influx of asylum seekers since last spring.
Mayor Eric Adams has clashed with Gov. Kathy Hochul over the issue, denouncing her stance the city should limit its movement of migrants to other parts of the state.
However, they’re aligned when it comes to pleading the federal government for more resources, including emergency funding and expedited work permits.