A chaotic scene unfolded on the Upper East Side on Sunday as pro and anti-migrant demonstrators faced-off, ending in a slew of arrests.
Photo by Dean Moses
A chaotic scene unfolded on the Upper East Side Sunday as pro- and anti-migrant demonstrators faced off, ending in a slew of arrests.
Republican radio personality and failed mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa led the raucous rally outside of Gracie Mansion on Aug. 27, where he decried Mayor Eric Adams’ efforts to aid the city’s migrant crisis.
Sliwa has helmed several protests over the last several weeks denouncing the placement of asylum-seeker shelters, including the tent city at Creedmoor Psychiatric Center in Queens, Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn, and St. John Villa Academy in Staten Island. However, for the first time the Guardian Angel founder met pushback from New Yorkers who say they welcome the new arrivals.
Calling Sliwa’s troop “far-right xenophobes” who put together a “hate rally,” a group of counter-protesters demanding housing for the migrants assembled about an hour before their political rivals. Gathering on East 86th Street and East End Avenue, the group of pro-migrant supporters firmly planted their feet in the ground and denounced Sliwa for what they cited as hate rhetoric.
“They’re acting as though immigrant families with small children are somehow a danger to school children at the recent shelter that was announced in the abandoned school in Staten Island. It’s nothing but white supremacy,” counter-protester Jay W. Walker said.
Over the last several weeks, the Guardian Angels founder has accused the city’s new arrivals of being thieves and gang members, and rebuked Mayor Adams for his handling of the crisis. Dubbing his demonstration “Occupy Gracie Mansion,” Sliwa railed against Adams for building migrant shelters across the five boroughs yet not placing them inside Gracie Mansion.
“We’re here because the mayor has brought this situation to a head….
Read the full article here
Leave a Reply