New York State received permission from the Biden administration to use the Floyd Bennett Airfield in Brooklyn to house migrants. The announcement comes as New York City leaders state that its government is running out of capacity to house the immigrants.
The former naval air station is part of the Gateway National Recreation Area and encompasses about 1,300 acres. The federal government initially denied the state’s request to use the facility.
The administration of New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) is currently struggling to house migrants who have arrived since the start of President Joe Biden’s term in 2021.
The city has utilized a number of locations, including the recent announcement that it planned to use a former Catholic school on Staten Island as a migrant shelter rather than its original plans to convert it into a public school.
New York’s moves also come as its resources buckle under the pressure of the migrant wave. Residents in Staten Island protested against a proposed plan to utilize a former nursing home as a shelter for migrants.
The protests last weekend included more than 200 residents, with some calling for the closure of the U.S.-Mexico border. Police arrested a number of the protesters, including former Republican mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa.
Mayor Eric Adams is taking trips while our city faces a migrants crisis, a violence crisis, and a homeless crisis. Just like Nero, Adams is partying away while NYC falls into disaster. pic.twitter.com/2edcrkdcAU
— Curtis Sliwa (@CurtisSliwa) August 22, 2023
New York City is considering utilizing the former Midland Beach nursing home and its 288 beds.
Sliwa was also arrested during a separate protest last week against a proposed tent city to house the migrants in Queens.
Hundreds of protesters rallied against the proposal to place 1,000 migrant men into a tent city at the Creedmoor Psychiatric Center. The city previously announced that the facility will include four structures with two tents.
Gotham is currently home to approximately 100,000 migrants who have arrived since last year.
Adams’ office said that the city has “been left largely alone to respond with a national humanitarian crisis.”
The mayor’s office said that New York has already created more than 200 emergency sites for the migrants and “run out of space every day.”
The city is currently considering more than 3,000 additional sites and “every option remains on the table.”
