Hundreds of migrant families were temporarily moved from Floyd Bennett Field to a nearby Brooklyn high school ahead of Tuesday night’s severe weather, prompting criticism from politicians, parents, and advocacy groups alike.
The storm’s high winds, not the torrential rainfall, is what prompted the city to evacuate nearly 2,000 asylum seekers from the historic airfield located alongside Jamaica Bay to James Madison High School, according to Zach Iscol, the city’s emergency-management commissioner. During an interview with Fox 5, Iscol said the tents used to house the migrants are rated for high winds, but the city decided to move people “out of an abundance of caution.”
The scene was reportedly chaotic, with dozens of school buses arriving at the site to take asylum seekers, who were notified at the last minute that they would be heading elsewhere. The New York Daily News spoke to Alexander Junior Soto Caballero, a 29-year-old husband and father from Venezuela who said the move from Floyd Bennett Field left him and family afraid.
“We don’t have clothes, food. I don’t have a job. We are waiting for the buses to arrive to get out of here,” he told the outlet. “We’re worried about the storm. It’s a truly horrible situation.”
With the school being temporarily repurposed, James Madison students were notified that remote learning would be in effect on Wednesday. Per the emergency-management agency, the winds subsided at Floyd Bennett Field around 1 a.m. Wednesday, and all the families were later transported back to the site by about 4:30 a.m. The City reports that people were forced to sleep either in chairs or on the floor during their stay in the school building.
Mayor Eric Adams and Governor Kathy Hochul had long sought federal approval to use Floyd Bennett Field as a site to house migrants in the wake of the influx of tens of thousands of newcomers to the city and state. Though City Hall and the federal government finally came to a deal on the site’s use, there was no shortage of critics, who cited its isolated location and the potential for flooding.
The Legal Aid Society and the Coalition of the Homeless issued a joint statement, condemning the use of the airfield to house migrants. “Needless to say, today will be very traumatic and disruptive for these families. We fear, especially with more inclement weather expected this winter, that this is only a foreshadow of more problems to come, and we again urge the City to cease placing families with children at this facility,” the statement read.
Some parents of James Madison students were also upset by the city’s decision, with several showing up at a morning rally outside of the school Wednesday arranged by Assemblymember Michael Novakhov.
The evacuation also prompted criticism from both sides of the political aisle. Comptroller Brad Lander, who has previously voiced his disapproval of the city’s handling of the migrant crisis, said in a statement that the relocation “highlights the mismanagement and waste of money that is all-too-present in City Hall’s approach to shelter and services for asylum seekers.”
Republican councilmember Inna Vernikov said on X that James Madison students are “being punished and forced to bear the brunt of the migrant crisis perpetrated by Joe Biden” and suggested Adams host migrants in Gracie Mansion, the mayoral residence.
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