Staten Island officials had harsh words for New York City’s latest plan to open a migrant shelter in a local church.
Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella, alongside Councilwoman Kamillah Hanks and Councilman David Carr, held a last-minute press conference on Monday attacking a proposal to place 15 cots in the Faith United Methodist Church for single adult men.
“Out of the blue, in the dark of the night, we were just told last week that ‘guess what, despite all your best efforts, we’re going to open up a migrant shelter…which is wrong. We come here united,” Fossella, a Republican, said, according to the New York Post.
The bipartisan group of community leaders agreed that opening a migrant shelter would be “hurting this community and the people.”
FURIOUS STATEN ISLAND RESIDENT VOWS COMMUNITY WILL STOP MIGRANT SHELTER IN ITS TRACKS: ‘THIS IS GROUND ZERO’
Staten Island Borough president Vito Fossella said that the city only gave him a few days’ notice before insisting that a local church would open a migrant shelter. (Photo by Helen H. Richardson/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images)
“Some people in this community wake up every day trying to figure out, ‘How do we make Portland Richmond better? How do we make the North Shore better?’” Fossella said.
He added, “And then along comes the agencies, [which] say, ‘Guess what? Here’s a way we can make it better: We’re gonna’ dump a migrant shelter right in the middle of your neighborhood.’”
“How is that any degree of common sense? It’s not,” he said. “We have to stand and fight back.”
Hanks, a Democratic councilwoman, agreed with Fossella and criticized the city for giving them such short notice, the New York Post reported.
“The residents of this district are tired — they’re tired of constantly waking up one day to find that an institution they trusted has made the decision that they feel will have a negative impact on their community and their safety,” Hanks continued.
She added, “We deserve a reasonable expectation that communities will be provided with adequate notice and will not intentionally keep us in the dark while decisions are made.”
Staten Island residents and local leaders have attacked New York City’s attempts to shelter migrants in their neighborhoods. (Julia Bonavita/Fox News Digital)
Carr, a Republican, noted that it was unlikely the church could even be equipped to be converted into a shelter, insisting that Staten Island is not under any obligation to provide shelter for migrants.
“We should be talking about closing shelters, winding them down, not opening up new ones like the one that they intend to put behind us,” he said, indicating the church behind them.
“I’m not just against migrant shelters in my backyard,” Carr continued. “I’m against migrant shelters in everyone’s backyard.”
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Speaking with Fox News Digital, Fossella said that Staten Island has frequently pushed back against some of New York City’s efforts to open more migrant shelters in their borough. For example, in September, a Staten Island judge ruled that a school being used to house migrants had to be vacated.
“From day one, we’ve been pretty clear that we feel that this policy is unsustainable. And clearly, it’s been unsustainable,” he said.
Fossella attacked New York City’s “right to shelter” mindset when it comes to welcoming migrants.
He further attacked the way New York City has been handling the migrant crisis over the past few years.
“Every day, people from all over the world come, and they roll the dice and once they cross the border, they are sent to wherever they want to go. And the unfortunate situation in New York City is the belief that’s wrong, that there’s this so-called ‘right to shelter’ that the city has an obligation to accommodate them, to put them up in hotels, to feed them, to give them mopeds, to give them iPhones. It’s wrong. It’s just not true,” Fossella said.
As of Monday night, Fossella stated that he had not yet heard back from the city.
Fox News Digital reached out to the New York City mayor’s office for a comment.
Lindsay Kornick is an associate editor for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to lindsay.kornick@fox.com and on Twitter: @lmkornick.
