Eastern Queens elected officials and community leaders are denouncing the city’s plan to create a large-scale tent facility to house an influx of migrants on the grounds of the old Creedmoor Psychiatric Center in Queens Village.
In a show of bipartisan support, Councilwoman Linda Lee joined Councilwoman Vickie Paladino, Senator Toby Ann Stavisky, Assemblyman Edward Braunstein and Queens Borough President Donovan Richards for a press conference outside of Community Board 13 in Queens Village on Wednesday, July 19. The lawmakers reiterated that the aging infrastructure, location and lack of transportation in eastern Queens fails to meet the needs of both the community and the asylum seekers.
“Communities in eastern Queens face challenging, aging infrastructure that fails to respond to our changing climate, mitigating flooding, a lack of reliable transit and severe overcrowding that would strain sanitation infrastructure and our school systems,” Lee said. “We need to figure out a way to make sure they’re all getting access to services and they have places to go and ways to get around in that transit desert area.”
While the Aqueduct Racetrack in Ozone Park has seemingly been eliminated for consideration as a tent city to house migrants, Richards cleared up speculations that both Creedmoor and Aqueduct are by no means “off the table.”
“I know there has been some confusion. The other site may be temporarily taken, may not be happening, but by no means is it ‘off the table,’ according to members of the Adams Administration,” Richards said. “One of the things we’re calling for through this process is to ensure we have transparency. We need to know what’s happening when it’s happening and if it’s happening.”
Should the city move forward with housing migrants at Aqueduct and Creedmoor, Richards said there needs to be an interagency task force comprised of local stakeholders and all agencies relevant to protect and enhance the…
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