Dozens of newly arrived immigrants, faced with the lack of shelter and the 30-day limit on housing assistance offered by the city government, have opted to set up camps in different parts of the city, as is currently happening on Randall’s Island. And although authorities say they are looking for ways to connect them with services, on Tuesday they reiterated that the city’s policy will continue to be to remove the camps that are set up around the Big Apple.
That’s what Mayor Eric Adam said after referring to the current situation on the banks of the East River, near a shelter that houses hundreds of migrants, where dozens of people have set up shacks, are cooking on bonfires, and are even bathing in the river’s waters. Residents of the outer areas of Randall’s Island insist that they are staying in the park because they have no other options, after their 30-day period of stay in a shelter has run out.
The Mayor reiterated that the City has been through a lot trying to reach out to the more than 200,000 migrants who have arrived in the five boroughs over the past two years, and while he cautioned that encampments are not allowed, he said officials in his administration will handle the situation with sensitivity.
“We have to communicate with people. We don’t want to be too heavy-handed. We don’t want to be insensitive. It’s about figuring out what resources are needed and getting people there as we deal with this humanitarian crisis that we’re facing right now,” the mayor said. “I don’t understand why our city is going through this. And what this team is doing is managing a crisis that is not sustainable, and that’s what we’re doing, and it’s not always pretty, it’s not always perfect, but we’ve managed a crisis that exceeds anyone’s expectations that we’re capable of managing this crisis.”
The Democrat, however, noted that habitability and public safety are priorities for his City Hall, and recalled how in other parts of the Big Apple, encampments have been removed.
“I know we talked about some of the encampments that we’re seeing forming near HERRCs, but at the beginning of this administration, we had encampments all over the place — under Park Avenue, a highway in Brooklyn, McGuinness Boulevard, on our highways as I drove through the city,” the politician said. “They just don’t exist anymore, and yes, some do pop up from time to time, and we respond immediately to that, and particularly when it’s identified and reported to us. We place a lot of importance on quality of life, and we’re going to continue to enforce that.”
Camille Joseph Varlack, the mayor’s chief of staff, added that in partnership with the New York Police Department and Park Control Patrol, they will continue to enforce the rules, not only against camping but also against unauthorized vending, and denied that installing bathrooms there means they are encouraging tenting.
“Just because we have two portable toilets there doesn’t mean we’re encouraging encampments. Our policy on Randall’s Island is the same as the rest of the city. For the people who are there, we know that with our 30-day and 60-day rules, we continue to provide them with intensive case management,” she said, warning that those who break the law could be subject to sanctions and asking them to follow the example of most new arrivals.
“We have sort of a continuing opportunity to have a fine re-imposed on those who want to move on to another stage of their process. That option remains open to them, and as you know, over 65 percent of the 212,000 people who have been in our care have taken advantage of that and taken the next step,” Varlack said.
“So we continue to work very closely with the entire team that is on Randall’s Island and the issue of encampments will be addressed … The same policy that we have across the city is the same policy that applies on Randall’s Island,” he said. “We will have conversations with the people there, understand exactly why they are there, who the people are, whether or not they are asylum seekers, whether or not they may be other people, and make sure that they are given the resources to be able to move forward. But the mayor’s policy on encampments is the same no matter where you are in New York City.”
On the other hand, Mayor Adams also referred to the migration crisis on the southern border and once again stated that the main problem posed by the arrival of new migrants to the localities is not their presence but the lack of work permits that allow them to support themselves.
“I would like to see us control our border. That’s important,” the Mayor said. “We need populations in our municipalities. But they have to be able to work. And it’s a game changer if people can allow people to work. If we do that, we can see a game changer in this whole conversation.”
Finally, the New York leader assured that the NYPD is working with the Colombian authorities in order to put a stop to criminal gangs from South America, such as the Tren de Aragua, whose presence has already been established in various parts of the United States and the Big Apple.
“This partnership is similar to what we’ve done across the country to deal with terrorism in other parts of the world. We’re going to put it right here in our backyard where we’re going to have a detective assigned there, who’s going to share intelligence and really cooperate with Colombian officials and the city of New York,” Adams said. “It’s a quick way to get in the middle of what’s going on so that we can address any criminal behavior that arises from the small number of immigrants and asylum seekers that are coming here. I think it’s really going to enhance our public safety similar to what we were doing in the Middle East and other places.”