By Art Stamford
The refugees came to our neighborhood
from anyplace else but here.
Some tried to help them if they could,
others greeted them with fear.
They kept on coming, welcome or not –
no one knew what to do.
Give them a bed, give them a cot,
and hope they’ll muddle through.
We’re completely full up, the mayor said,
we’ve got no room for more.
Go anyplace else but here instead,
knock on someone else’s door.
But no one else had an open door –
the refugees were stuck.
No one would help them anymore –
had they run out of luck?
What shall we do? Turn them away?
Send them back to oppression and war?
We’re decent folk, but we have to say
haven’t we done all we could and more?
But in my heart a question lurks:
has hope really left the West Side,
where exiles have written masterworks,
led productive lives and died?
To receive West Side Rag’s free email newsletter, click here.
A problem I don’t see confronted in the poem is this: New York seems to be the only municipality in the country that is forced to provide free lodging and food to anyone from anywhere in the world. And with modern technology, this message is now all over the world. That’s not the situation in the days of Emma Lazarus et al. That was then, this is now.
And that is what sets NYC apart from the rest of the country, in a positive way that is! It’s not a negative
How many people from around the world do you want to pay for? Millions? There is no limit.
Migrants are coming here, seeing how expensive it is, and finding better long term options elsewhere. They aren’t going to stay here if there is no work, or the conditions are terrible. They are here to make a better life for themselves. This process of coming in and figuring things out takes time. Let NYC be the first place they come. It has always been that way and should continue to be. If NY’ers don’t like it, there is another 99.9% of the country they can move to and not have to concern themselves with this issue at scale.
Maybe if we had a little more of ” then” we’d be a lot better now.
So much misinformation. So much misunderstanding. New York is not the only municipality in the country that is receiving asylum seekers, and immigration to the U.S. was far easier and far more widespread in Emma Lazarus’ days!
I made an earlier reply, which was not posted. Alt below, however, says better what I had said. The issue I pointed to is our obligation to provide free services to migrants, and the spread of the news of this obligation all over the world.
Jerry,
Per 1980s lawsuits, NYC is obligated to provide shelter to anyone who is homeless – including people from out of state and out of country.
That is unique.
Moreover there is active messaging on social media about the free shelter in NYC and other free services.
It’s true that New York seems to bear much of the burden of the current wave of people fleeing their countries. However, I was a refugee from Nazi Austria, so my perspective is a little different. If we hadn’t had a rich relative here, all of my family would have died. As it is many of them didn’t make it out. If the federal government stepped in, these refugees could be distributed more equally around the country.
NY is not bear ing ,much of the burden. Millions have entered the US the vast majority are not in NYC.
And the federal government -should- step in. The fact that they’ve abdicated their responsibility and left it to states and municipalities is a really sad comment on our government’s capabilities. A recent NY Times article scoffed at Mayor Adam’s complaints about processing immigrants, saying Ellis Island used to process 10,000 per day. But they didn’t note that Ellis Island was run by the US government, not the city!
A lovely poem, reminding us of the values we have espoused but sometimes forget to practice.
No room at the Inn
A story I’ve heard before
Perhaps a manger
Art, I love this. Thank you for the food for thought and for exposing yourself to criticism. And even more for being a really decent human.
Upper West Siders can be a welcoming bunch, but only on the terms where they get an ego boost or otherwise feel above everyone else. I’ll never forget the moment where I was on the UWS when Biden won and was around white people that knew my Muslim sounding name and while they were cheering and talking to other white people but left me out, the vibe I got was I did “the right thing” and voted for Biden, now I am to go sit down like a good boy.
“Now I am to go sit down like a good old boy.” Sorry, but I think that’s nonsense. The only people who would think in such a patronizing and/or racist way toward you are neanderthals, and thankfully such people are a small minority around here. Human beings forget how common it is to feel like an outsider and to feel excluded. Indeed, it’s an almost universal feeling–yes, even among white males born in the U.S.A.!
This is not nonsense, this is the lived experience of a Muslim American on the Upper West Side. There’s no difference between the attitudes of many white Upper West Siders and those on Staten Island or the south shore of Long Island other than the fact that Upper West Siders are more polite and refined about it. They’re not a small minority, many of them voted for Biden in 2020, many of them voted for Gale Brewer in 2021, some of them even voted for Sara Lind in 2021 or Jerry Nadler in 2022.
I’m sorry to hear that Amir. It’s just not the Upper West Side that I know. I don’t know or associate with anyone who discriminates based on race, religion, color, nation of origin, sexual orientation, etc. And I will continue to add that almost all human beings feel like outsiders much of the time, and feel excluded, no matter who they are. I’m sorry anyone around here has done anything to magnify that feeling by their behavior toward you.