NYC's controversial tent shelter housing illegal aliens slated to close
The massive tent city shelter at Brooklyn's Floyd Bennett Field is scheduled to shut down next year, and the city plans to relocate the illegal immigrants currently residing there by mid-January.On Tuesday, Democrat Mayor Eric Adams' office announced that it plans to close additional shelter spaces around the city, citing lower numbers of individuals relying on the taxpayer-funded shelter services.'The re-election of President Trump was the final nail in the coffin to secure this closure.'Adams' administration will close 25 shelters, including the 2,000-bed makeshift facility in Floyd Bennett Field, which the city leases from the federal government through the National Park Service."The number of asylum-seekers in city shelters has decreased for 22 straight weeks and is now at its lowest point in over 17 months," Adams' office stated. "New York state, which was paying the costs of sheltering migrants at Floyd Bennett Field, will continue to reimburse New York City for costs for equivalent care incurred at other sites across the city."Adams credited the closures to the city's "smart management strategies" that addressed the immigration crisis."Our intensive case management, paired with 30- and 60-day policies, have helped more than 170,000 migrants take their next steps on their journeys, because migrants don't come here to live in our shelter system — they come here to pursue the American dream," Adams stated. "We're going to continue looking for more sites to consolidate and close and more opportunities to save taxpayer money, as we continue to successfully manage this response."The Mayor's Office of Asylum Seeker Operations Executive Director Molly Schaeffer called the Floyd Bennett Field tent shelter a "relief valve" that provided "critical shelter and resources" at the height of the immigration crisis for the city.In September, a 30-vehicle caravan of New York City residents protested the potential renewal of the migrant shelter, which they argued had invited more crime and violence into their neighborhoods. Assemblywoman Jaime Williams (R-Brooklyn) previously told the New York Post, "We have these migrants coming in, door-knocking, stealing packages, you know, soliciting everywhere in front of our supermarkets, playing at the heartstrings of people.""And this is not what our community is about," Williams continued. "Floyd Bennett Field is not a place to house migrants. It's a flood zone [with] no infrastructure whatsoever. So when you have them in that type of setting, there is nothing left to do. They're going to be on the street because they don't have any jobs."More than 100 residents held a similar protest against the shelter in June.Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-N.Y.) responded to the announced closure."Today's announcement that the Floyd Bennett Field migrant shelter will close next month, days before President Trump is sworn in, shows the impact his agenda is already having on our country's migrant crisis," Malliotakis told WABC-TV. "While we kept the pressure up by rallying, protesting, passing legislation, and filing bipartisan lawsuits to terminate the lease, the re-election of President Trump was the final nail in the coffin to secure this closure, restore order in our community, and put American citizens first," she added.Adams has plans to meet with President-elect Donald Trump's incoming border czar, Tom Homan, on Thursday.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
The massive tent city shelter at Brooklyn's Floyd Bennett Field is scheduled to shut down next year, and the city plans to relocate the illegal immigrants currently residing there by mid-January.
On Tuesday, Democrat Mayor Eric Adams' office announced that it plans to close additional shelter spaces around the city, citing lower numbers of individuals relying on the taxpayer-funded shelter services.
'The re-election of President Trump was the final nail in the coffin to secure this closure.'
Adams' administration will close 25 shelters, including the 2,000-bed makeshift facility in Floyd Bennett Field, which the city leases from the federal government through the National Park Service.
"The number of asylum-seekers in city shelters has decreased for 22 straight weeks and is now at its lowest point in over 17 months," Adams' office stated. "New York state, which was paying the costs of sheltering migrants at Floyd Bennett Field, will continue to reimburse New York City for costs for equivalent care incurred at other sites across the city."
Adams credited the closures to the city's "smart management strategies" that addressed the immigration crisis.
"Our intensive case management, paired with 30- and 60-day policies, have helped more than 170,000 migrants take their next steps on their journeys, because migrants don't come here to live in our shelter system — they come here to pursue the American dream," Adams stated. "We're going to continue looking for more sites to consolidate and close and more opportunities to save taxpayer money, as we continue to successfully manage this response."
The Mayor's Office of Asylum Seeker Operations Executive Director Molly Schaeffer called the Floyd Bennett Field tent shelter a "relief valve" that provided "critical shelter and resources" at the height of the immigration crisis for the city.
In September, a 30-vehicle caravan of New York City residents protested the potential renewal of the migrant shelter, which they argued had invited more crime and violence into their neighborhoods.
Assemblywoman Jaime Williams (R-Brooklyn) previously told the New York Post, "We have these migrants coming in, door-knocking, stealing packages, you know, soliciting everywhere in front of our supermarkets, playing at the heartstrings of people."
"And this is not what our community is about," Williams continued. "Floyd Bennett Field is not a place to house migrants. It's a flood zone [with] no infrastructure whatsoever. So when you have them in that type of setting, there is nothing left to do. They're going to be on the street because they don't have any jobs."
More than 100 residents held a similar protest against the shelter in June.
Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-N.Y.) responded to the announced closure.
"Today's announcement that the Floyd Bennett Field migrant shelter will close next month, days before President Trump is sworn in, shows the impact his agenda is already having on our country's migrant crisis," Malliotakis told WABC-TV.
"While we kept the pressure up by rallying, protesting, passing legislation, and filing bipartisan lawsuits to terminate the lease, the re-election of President Trump was the final nail in the coffin to secure this closure, restore order in our community, and put American citizens first," she added.
Adams has plans to meet with President-elect Donald Trump's incoming border czar, Tom Homan, on Thursday.
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
Originally Published at Daily Wire, World Net Daily, or The Blaze
What's Your Reaction?
