By Bobby Panza
All single adult migrants currently living at the Stratford Arms Hotel, located at 117 West 70th Street, will be moved out starting tomorrow, Wednesday, September 6, City Councilmember Gale Brewer announced at a full Community Board 7 meeting held at David Geffen Hall on September 5.
Brewer said the NYPD will close West 70th Street to traffic from Wednesday through Friday, September 8, in order to load buses. The 500 individuals residing at the Stratford Arms will be taken to another Humanitarian Emergency Relief Center (HERCC) on Randall’s Island.
The New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation will oversee the transition at the Stratford Arms, which expects to welcome migrant families with children starting Monday, September 11. Brewer said officials will work to get migrant children into schools.
The same scenario is unfolding at the HERCC at 207 West 85th Street. Single migrants living at that site will be moved out as soon as Friday to make room for migrant families with children on an ongoing basis. A spokesperson from Councilmember Brewer’s office told WSR that “all single adult migrants living in HERRCs are being moved to congregate settings so families with children can be in private rooms.”
The Stratford Arms has been the site of controversy related to the alleged behavior of some migrants. The Rag covered the issue here.
This story is ongoing. We’ll continue to update as more information becomes available.
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Taxes are going to go up at this rate. City has become unlivable for the middle class.
Yup, we’re all paying for Mayor Adams progressive agenda which virtually assures that the middle class will leave the city and leave it with the ultra rich, and migrants, because they are the only people who will be able to afford to live here.
Please do not screen me as this is a fair question (and first amendment right)
I remember Ms.Brewer last month telling us there were families in those 2 locations. I guess she didn’t have a chance to check the accuracy of that statement. So now families are really going in after sexual acts happening on the sidewalks and needles on school property. What else does she claim without checking facts?
The First Amendment does not pertain to all communication, but only prohibits government censorship (and there are exceptions to that, too). The West Side Rag is a private online newspaper. The First Amendment does not apply.
A previous WSR article (June 14) stated that the Mayor’s office claimed that the facility “will serve adult families and single women,” Deceptiveness abounds.
This is a good question, in my opinion. But just to be clear, having the right to post it is not a first amendment right. That refers to the government not being allowed to censor you. WSR is not the government.
This seems like an improvement. We’ll see how it works in practice.
I’m assuming the older children will be enrolled in local public schools and I’d be interested to read about the practical steps those schools are taking to prepare for them.
I’m torn between resentment over the amount of tax money going to support undocumented migrants here (money that NYC needs for its own) and an instinctive feeling of protectiveness when I actually encounter migrant parents and children.
Mostly I’m angry with the federal government for forcing NY to foot the bill for its border policies.
Having proper infrastructure would help., like adequate classroom space and teachers. As it is those two things are lacking in many schools . And where would the schools be located? The UES perhaps?
Please don’t screen me on this comment. The migrants I have seen leaving so far have nice suitcases and are being picked up by Ubers or friends/families with nice cars. We, the taxpayers, are being taken advantage of, and many many many of these people don’t aren’t real asylum seekers just migrants coming to take advantage of housing, Wi-fi, laundry, food, medical. It’s not right while hard working people in NY can’t get the same benenfits.
When everyone is paying expensive rent or a mortgage, internet, a ridiculous Con Ed bill, health insurance premiums that are insane and crazy food prices at the grocery store….
It is is obviously unfair that a very large group of individuals, 100,000, in New York City, get free rent, Internet, electricity, food, and health care for just skipping the line and coming into the country.
And no one is, addressing the fact that many families move to the UW for the elementary schools.
How is it fair to your child that their classroom is going up in size with kids who do not speak English and have, unfortunately, behavioral issues.
Here’s the rub, it’s you….
YOUR tax dollars that are paying for this.
Speak up, get involved and reach out to your elected officials. .
New York City should be a sanctuary only for New York City residents, not the entire world.
Read the law, nowhere does it say that the entire world is entitled to this!
Close the border today!
And we are getting a small taste of what our southern states are constantly struggling with, and it’s just unfair to every single tax paying American.
“New York City should be a sanctuary only for New York City residents, not the entire world.”
That sentence reveals a deep misunderstanding of the history of this city!
Per the Right to Shelter Law – one of the stipulations is that it has to be constrained by fiscal responsibility (ie-the city HAS to have a balanced budget unlike the federal government). No one has addressed nor challenged this very real problem/issue. Not the invisible Advocate Mr. Williams, not the City Council and most notably not Brad Lander who suddenly found out what his job is and turned down one of the most ridiculous no bid contracts to a Covid testing firm turned migrant shelter and care provider with no bona fides but a tremendous $$$ fee and serious complaints about their staff and capabilities (everything from unverified security who have been menacing and threatening to horrible moldy food, lack of providing services per contract like legal and administrative assistance and simply farming the work out to subcontractors) which in most cases would NOT line you up for an enormous renewal. The billions flowing in unvetted no-bid contracts stinks to HIGH heaven-just like it did in Covid where the last mayor in partnership with the hotel association & non-profits ate through an obscene amount of money with ZERO accountability. How are they able to circumvent this very important tenant of our local government’s policy??
I’m also concerned about our tax money being lavished around, but why do you say the immigrant children have behavioral issues?
The migrant children I’ve seen around the neighborhood with their parents seem a lot more polite than many native New York kids. I’m more worried about who they’ll become under the bad influence of rude New York kids, frankly.
Can’t help but wonder how many people posting here are the grandchildren or great-grandchildren of people who came here with nothing, sought work, sent their children to public school, and became great Americans–and are now showing fearful ugly hearts towards their fellow strangers and sojourners.
Not an accurate comparison in the least. Our grandparents came here with nothing and did not have one city’s residents find them a place to live, pay their rents, pay for their food, pay for any healthcare, pay for their transportation.
It is shameful to insult current NYC residents who do not have discretionary income to support 100,000 people and growing. When all the services for our already homeless citizens are gone, when the services for existing children are gone, when NY Medicaid stops covering people, when libraries have to close more days, this is why.
When our grandparents arrived at Ellis Island, they had to show they had a sponsor of some sort or a place to go. They also had to be examined for disease and quarantined if they had smallpox, tuberculosis, etc. I don’t see any of this happening with this huge influx of migrants. Also, re: Eliis Island, the processing time was roughly 8 hours (unless someone was quarantined or sent back) and everything was documented. This is NOT what is happening today.
I’m sorry but my grandfather joined the United States Army in exchange for citizenship and served in WWII. Seeing all of these people show up and hold their hands out for what he risked his life for beings me to tears.
Mine, too. And my family members came here legally and waited their turn.
Not fearful-not ugly just fiscally responsible. You may not have been around when the city was on the brink of bankruptcy but the definition of fiscal irresponsibility is happening by not balancing the budget and spending future tax revenue, which I assure you will come home to roost. There was never any intention beyond helping needy NYC’s with this law-did you really expect to provide for over 100,000 people from around the world? I believe the recent total was close to $60k per each NYC citizen-are you prepared to either pay up or lose significant services? Let’s not be emotional-it’s about real fiscal concerns.
Nobody got off the boat at Ellis Island with a guarantee of room, board etc.
And nobody got through the door at Ellis Island unless they came here legally.
We did not get free housing, free food, free medical care, etc..
Our parents and grandparents didn’t have to wait six months (minimum) for the bureaucracy to issue work permits, either.
That’s no excuse. Americans are waiting that long just to get passports which they’re entitled to.
I would ask them how they got here to work in the first place tho… my parents were refugees and stayed thru sponsorship. Imagine the entire manhattan sponsoring a family
Our parents and grandparents came legally, that’s the difference!
NYTimes: “Voters are watching. A recent poll conducted by Siena College found that 82 percent of registered voters view the influx as a “serious” problem, and a majority said that the state had “already done enough” for the asylum seekers and should focus on slowing their arrivals. The same poll showed nearly every major Democrat, including Mr. Biden, underwater among suburban voters.”
I am a big supporter of Biden (contrary to the progressives here who are convinced I am a Trumper).
He is playing this very wisely. Let NY suffer. He is virtually guaranteed to win NY in 2024, so upsetting New Yorkers doesn’t really matter, and New York has a lot more bleeding hearts who are OK with this than other states.
In an ideal world, he would move many of the migrants to nearby states like PA, Michigan, Ohio that have areas with declining populations. But these states are very much in play in 2024, so he doesn’t want to anger anyone there, particularly the suburban voters you noted.
Actually, in an ideal world there wouldn’t be so many of them in the country, but that is a whole different discussion.
It will be very telling to see where these kids are tomorrow on the first day of school.
It is the Senate and Congress that votes on laws and legislation to control immigration and the boarder. Where are they?
The laws already exist, but the government does not make any serious effort to enforce them. Being a sanctuary city ties their hands even more. You get what you ask for.
Makes sense. Kids can go to schools. Single migrants can use their vehicles to travel to jobs. Should be a good solution and bring some peace to the neighborhood!
But supposedly they’re not allowed to work but the Mayor is fighting for the laws to change
Any policy that allows an unlimited number of people access to housing, food, healthcare services and public school admissions is untenable. This policy was put in place long before Adams was elected. He inherited it and is trying to manage a hopeless situation. What should be happening by all NYC and State officials is a recognition of the futility of such a policy and immediately finding a bipartisan path to ending it.
Is it true that migrants are receiving money from the government on a weekly or monthly basis? If so, how much are they getting? Where are they gettin money to buy scooters & electric bikes if they are supposedly not working?
I’m assuming most did not arrive with empty wallets.
They are working for cash delivering food.
Imagine if we got 100x as many, like Texas.
Funny thing is that California, Arizona, and New Mexico also share a border with Mexico, but they aren’t weaponizing migrants and asylum seekers.
I have to just say that I don’t like any of it. I work seven days a week to live here on the UWS as a single person, without any help from family, paying my rent and bills on time every month, going without even a brief vacation for years on end because I just can’t afford it (but am happy to live in this city where I can feel like a tourist in my own town). No one gives me SQUAT. I have to earn it. And then my very hard-earned money, in the form of taxes, has to support this, especially when so many of our own are on the street, homeless and hungry and in desperate need of services. Are all of these “asylum seekers” really fleeing persecution, or do they just know this country and our city is a colossal pushover? I’m sick of all of it.
WSR said on June 12 that the incoming migrants staying at this location were “adult women and families”…
Now they are being moved out to make room for “migrant families with children”
https://www.westsiderag.com/2023/06/12/city-to-move-migrants-into-stratford-arms-hotel-on-west-70th-and-buildings-on-west-85th
lol.
This block has been a disaster all summer.
Gale Brewer is a smartt politician whether you like her or not. Getting rid of single male migrants serves a dual purpose. You get rid of many trouble makers. . You increase the number of students in school which the teachers union is in favor as it increases the demand for teachers . The teachers union is a strong supporter of Gale Brewer.
In addition, I am fed up with West Side Rag refusing tp publish comments which do not conform to your progressive agenda.
At this point in the game NYC should just raise its arms in total surrender.
Most of these “asylum seekers” are not legit.
We are taking care of people who broke our laws and are literally taking us for a ride.
Mayor Adams, who is partly responsible for this, is correct.
If this is not fixed in a hurry, it will be the end of NYC as we know it.