NYC migrant crisis: Dueling protests emerge over Staten Island shelter
STATEN ISLAND - Welcoming words were drowned out by hecklers outside the former St. John Villa Academy on Staten Island.
However, the borough’s faith leaders spoke through the yelling, even as tensions reached a boiling point.
"We are to treat these neighbors with the same compassion that we would wish to be shown if we were in their shoes," said Rev. Karen Pershing, of the Staten Island Inter-Religious Council.
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Migrant crisis 'will destroy NYC,' Mayor Adams asserts
The mayor said more than 110,000 migrants have arrived in the city in the past year. He railed against President Biden for failing to help the city and control the border.
They held a news conference to counter the protests that continue to pop up in front of the shuttered Catholic school, which has been housing dozens of migrants since last month.
In recent days, New York Republican lawmakers have called for a special session to address the migrant crisis.
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Jennifer Rajkumar, a Democratic State Assemblywoman, introduced a legislative package paving the way for a statewide response to the crisis.
When questioned by reporters in Albany, Gov. Kathy Hochul said she’s exploring all her options.
Mayor Eric Adams, in the meantime, took his rhetoric about the migrant crisis to a new level, in remarks delivered Wednesday night at an Upper West Side town hall meeting.
"This issue will destroy New York City," he said.
"Let me tell you something New Yorkers, never in my life have i had a problem that I did not see an ending to. I don't see an ending to this," Adams admitted.
Since spring of last year, 110,000 migrants have passed through New York City.
Nearly 60,000 are currently under the city’s care at more than 200 emergency shelters and 16 humanitarian relief centers.
OVer 20,000 migrant children are now enrolled at the city’s public schools.
"We have to feed, clothe, house, educate the children, wash their laundry sheets, give them everything they need, healthcare," Adams added.