City Councilwoman Joann Ariola and State Assemblywoman Jaime Williams — who are suing to block Mayor Adams’ administration from housing migrants at Floyd Bennett Field — called on constituents Friday to come out for a “24/7 protest” at the defunct Brooklyn airstrip to make their “voices heard loud and clear on this matter.”
According to Ariola’s office, the demonstration will kick off at 4 p.m. Monday outside Floyd Bennett’s Runway 19, where construction is underway on a tent-style shelter expected to be able to house some 500 migrant families with kids. The plan is then to have a group of protesters large enough that shifts can be assigned so that there’s an around-the-clock presence every day thereafter, Ariola’s office said.
“Placing a shelter here would be wrong for the migrants, and it would be wrong for the people who enjoy the amenities at Floyd Bennett Field. This is the wrong decision all around, and we need to make our voices heard loud and clear on this matter,” Ariola, a Republican, said in a statement. “We need to stand as one strong, united, organized force. Together, we can stop this once and for all.”
Ray Vann, a spokesman for Ariola, did not immediately have an idea of how many people they expect will show up. Ariola and Williams, a Democrat, are circulating an online signup form where constituents can register for protest duty.
Spokespeople for Adams did not immediately return requests for comment on the planned 24/7 initiative.
The Floyd Bennett migrant shelter site is drawing criticism for a variety of reasons.
Ariola, Williams and a group of other mostly Republican lawmakers are suing Adams’ administration in state court alleging the city’s violating zoning laws and development restrictions. The administration attempted to recently get the lawsuit moved to a federal court, as Floyd Bennett Field is mostly owned by the U.S. Department of Interior, but a judge ordered it back to state court, a move Ariola and her allies touted as a win for their cause.
The U.S. military airstrip, which stands largely unused, is located in a flood plain, and Republicans as well as Democrats have raised concerns about the safety of housing migrants in there.
Williams was at the site Friday afternoon and provided a photo showing large pools of water accumulating amid the moderate rainfall.
Another issue that has stirred controversy is Adams’ announcement earlier this week that his administration plans to house migrant families with children at the Floyd Bennett facility even though it’s going to be a “congregate” shelter site. Under the city’s right-to-shelter mandate, which the administration is asking for court permission to suspend, it’s illegal to house homeless kids in congregate settings, and migrant advocates say the mayor could put minors at risk of sexual abuse and other dangers by doing so.
“Sheltering families with children in cramped and open cubicles at Floyd Bennett Field not only raises serious legal questions, but runs afoul of this administration’s previous statements to provide safe and appropriate shelter to this extremely vulnerable population,” the Legal Aid Society and the Coalition for the Homeless, which are fighting the administration’s attempted right-to-shelter rollback in court, said in a statement earlier this week. “Private rooms, not open cubicles, are needed to ensure the safety of families with children and to reduce the transmission of infectious disease, among other obvious reasons.”
Chris Sommerfeldt
Source link
