The McCarren Recreation Center will be used as a shelter for incoming migrants, City Councilmember Lincoln Restler shared on Twitter.
“Yesterday evening, the Adams admin notified us of their plan to utilize one wing of the McCarren Recreation Center to house approximately 80 asylum seekers beginning as soon as this weekend,” Restler tweeted. “The Adams admin has assured us that access to the pool & fitness center won’t be impacted & additional security will be in place to ensure everyone’s safety. We will be monitoring the situation to make sure these individuals are supported & the facility has the resources needed.”
Greenpointers previously reported on the temporary shelters that had been set up at local elementary schools in May, though the Adams administration did not end up going through with its initial plan to house migrants at those locations.
This news comes shortly after images of migrants forced to sleep outside an intake center in Manhattan have captured the public’s attention on social media.
Over the past several months, the city has scrambled to accommodate more than 56,000 migrants from countries like Venezuela and Chad, many of whom have fled political turmoil and violence. As the city continues to search for adequate housing, Mayor Eric Adams has called for an end to the city’s right-to-shelter mandate, a law requiring the city to provide housing to anyone who needs it.
Recently, Adams pleaded for the Biden administration to offer up federal assistance.
“We need help,” Adams said at a press conference earlier this week. “And it’s not going to get any better. From this moment on, it’s downhill.”
The city recently announced that it is considering setting up additional shelters in Central Park and Prospect Park.
Why the parks? Why not all of those empty businesses?
Leave my Greenpoint alone
Born February 18 1947
155 Greenpoint Ave. PS 34
Then 126. On to boys high.
USAF. 1964..1968. Greenpoint was a great place to grow up. Best childhood in Greenpoint Brooklyn. Hope you guys survive.
disgusting how these libs ruin the neighborhood.
Greenpointers, enjoy what you voted for! Good luck!
Our brain dead pols. at work. We have at least 50k New Yorkers homeless at any one time. House them first. America is the land of immigrants not the land of countless migrants coming undocumented at the southern borders. If we keep this up, we will have millions and billions of people at the borders trying to come in. I am a never Trumper but also never woker. Adams wokeness and lack of leadership re this, ie send them back to where they came from, is a gift that keeps on giving to the far right and Trump’s re election.
Paul, I’m going to disagree with you on “America is the land of immigrants”. America is for Americans. Stop saying it’s for the immigrants. This is what the democrats have been telling us a long time “America is the land of immigrants”. And these are the same democrats that are bringing these people in. They hate America.
Is there a way to stop this?
Can local representatives block Adams?
Can residents say no?
Unfortunately, no. If you look at the demographic map of Greenpoint, you will see that the majority of them are democrats. They voted for this chaos. If democrats say no to this, then they are hypocrites. I can understand for people who are not democrats and are upset with the situation. But I cannot understand the democrats upsetting the situation they put themselves in. If you vote for democrats, you vote for open borders. Why complain?
On the one hand we are a unique nation of nationalities. It’s a basic fact that has made us a very successful caldron of creativity, diversity and tolerance. New York City, besides always being the nation’s gateway, also embraces wealthier native-born migrants as they seek greener pastures – even though they make our city unaffordable and worsen the housing crisis for the rest of us. Not to mention oligarchs of all stripes. But we live with it. We find solutions. However when it come to living up to the ideals embodied in the Statue of Liberty then Mayor let-them-eat-Bitcoin Adams proclaims “No room at the Inn,” …or even the stable. And that makes me wonder if it’s a God that the good Mayor claims to speak to, or possibly a more evil force. Close the doors! Lock the locks! Burn the welcome mat. Dim the beacons of hope and the light of compassion. Gentrifying New York can now ship the inconvenient Statue of Liberty to Las Vegas. We can finally be rid of our Lady of the Harbor, along with the aspirations & dreams of countless seekers who embraced those ideals ,as they built & sustain this great & uniquely diverse City. Just ask your parents and grand-parents, especially those with European ancestry, for whom the golden doors were held wide open for so many years – years when our City greeted many more refugees than today. Apologies of course if your ancestors were of Chinese or Asian ancestry, and excluded before the mid-20th Century. Or if they had no choice but to arrive & try to survive as slaves. Or perhaps if they were forced to abandon indigenous native Lenope lands. Of course new-comers of all sorts were (and still are) all too often exploited for the benefit of the well to do & powerful. Hey, what else is new? How many pandemic workers (many of them low paid migrant) were deemed essential – essential for others to live, but not essential enough for the workers themselves to live, But at least in New York City we sometimes tried to offer a welcoming openness and a measure of opportunity to some. Some say Goodby Emma Lazarus – It was nice knowing you for a while, and believing your vision of American possibilities. But I reject that, and so should you. We’re New Yorkers. Instead of crying “Houston, we have a problem, let’s show them that New Yorkers can – and will- find humane, practical and moral solutions. Let’s work together and make this “problem” an opportunity – an opportunity to bring out the better angels in all of us….
There is a difference between European refugees and today’s migrants. European came to America because of world war 1 and 2. Even if they came illegally, they didn’t ask for free stuff, nor did they ask for stuff, and they were treated worse. The Cubans also has this mentality of not getting free stuff. The migrants today are coming here because they want free stuff and expect to get everything. Most of them come from Latin America and there is no war over there. They dance and partying all the time in their native countries. Most of them are spoiled too. What pisses New Yorkers is that they have to pay higher taxes to take care of them. These migrants come here illegally and expect us to pay for their free stuff. This behavior is unacceptable. The only solution is to deport them back to their countries.
Can we make a petition against it?
Asians were never slaves. Slaves don’t get paid.Theymist likely were indentured servants to work the railroads. I hate when.people choose to work under certain conditions and then say they were slaves. Slaves have no rights And they don’t hold property and they are forced into their situations. As far I know Asians were able to buy properties and own businesses right;?!
Keep voting blue no matter who, and you could expect this to only get worse. This is what current Greenpointers voted for and what they will almost certainly continue to vote for. You get what you voted for.
Does anyone know of volunteer opportunities or specific donations that are needed to help these new arrivals? They have been through so much and I would like to help.
I don’t think there are any opportunities just yet because needs are still being assessed. We’ll keep everyone updated when we know something more, I believe Assemblymember Gallagher’s office is doing a swimsuit drive, they had the details on their social media.
Thank you Emma! I will follow Assemblymember Gallagher’s social media, but if you are able to do another post when there is an update on ways to help, I’d be thrilled to help to the extent I’m able to. No one wants to leave their home and they didn’t choose to be bussed to NYC — anything we can do to help and show we are a supportive community.