Former GOP mayoral candidate protests migrant housing at Floyd Bennett Field.
Photo by Lloyd Mitchell
Hundreds of Brooklynites joined Guardian Angels founder, radio host, and former Republican mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa to protest against the placement of migrants at Floyd Bennett Field on Tuesday.
Sliwa, who was arrested Sunday during another protest at the Midland Beach Migrant Center, has been outspoken against asylum-seeking migrant shelters in the city.
This most recent protest came after Gov. Kathy Hochul said she and President Joe Biden’s respective administrations had reached a tentative agreement which greenlit the use of Floyd Bennett Field’s Runway 19 to be used to shelter over 2,000 migrants.
The potential contract was reached with the help of New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ office. Officials plan to construct a large shelter on the grounds of the federally-owned former naval airfield in order to help accommodate the over 100,000 asylum-seekers who have been steadily arriving in the city since last year.
“We are feeling optimistic that in the near future, we’ll have a contract review in our hand for an opportunity to house upwards of 2,500 people at this time,” Hochul said at a press conference in the Bronx on Monday. “So, that is the process, as I mentioned a week or two ago, that is still ongoing. But I feel that progress has been made. And we just have to review the terms.”
Additionally, the governor announced $20 million will be allocated to help expedite the process for approximately 30,000 migrants within the city’s shelter system in order to help them exit the system faster.
The city has struggled to find adequate resources to house and care for migrants in recent weeks, resorting to temporarily sheltering people in recreation centers and constructing huge tents on Randall’s Island and in Queens.
However, Sliwa and other critics have bemoaned the city’s efforts to aid migrants during…
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