A Brooklyn high school that housed nearly 2,000 migrants for one night during a powerful rainstorm received a bomb threat and multiple “hate calls,” the city’s top emergency management official said Wednesday.
The threats came amid a wave of outrage among some residents, Republican politicians and even the richest man in the world, Elon Musk, over the decision to house the migrants at James Madison High School in Marine Park after they were evacuated Tuesday afternoon from a nearby tent shelter at Floyd Bennett Field.
“These actions are not only deplorable, they are also criminal offenses,” said Zach Iscol, the city’s emergency management commissioner, during a virtual briefing. “This administration stands united against any hate or intimidation.”
He did not provide further details about the nature of the threats.
The migrants were back at the shelter at the former federal airfield by 4:15 a.m. Nevertheless, the school operated via remote learning Wednesday, fueling anger among some elected officials and parents who said the migrant crisis was coming at the expense of students.
“Let’s be clear about one thing: Remote learning equals no learning,” City Councilmember Vicki Paladino said in a statement.
State Assemblymember Michael Novakhov of Brooklyn promoted a protest outside the school slamming the city’s “decision to prioritize migrants over our communities, budget, safety, and even the education of our children.”
Videos posted to social media captured an ugly scene at James Madison on Tuesday evening as the city bused migrants to the school.
“How does it feel that you kicked all the kids out of school tomorrow?” a woman who identified herself as “an aggravated mother” yelled at migrant families.
Elon Musk, who owns the social media platform X, formerly Twitter, and is worth $245 billion, also weighed in.
“This is what happens when you run out of hotel rooms,” he wrote on the platform. “Soon, cities will run out of schools to…
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