BY: USMAN CHOHAN
Hundreds of demonstrators gathered in front of the entrance to Floyd Bennett Field on September 4 to vent frustration over the city’s plan to potentially house some 2,000 migrants at the former military facility. The demonstration was organized by Guardian Angels founder and leader Curtis Sliwa and radio talk show Host Sid Rosenberg.
Crowds carried American flags and placards saying “Stop Rewarding Start Deporting,” and “Adams Must Go.” Chants of “No Tent City!” and “Close Our Borders!” were heard as well. Sliwa, who spoke for almost 45 minutes, called on New York Governor Kathy Hochul to work with the community on this issue.
“Kathy Hochul, defy the local officials, work with us, cooperate with them, get the bad illegal aliens off the street, make them do their time and then ship them back,” Sliwa demanded.
Sliwa warned that site infrastructure could be set up pretty quickly. “They are gonna try to put these tents up. They already signed the contract even though City Hall lied,” Sliwa claimed.
The demonstration came one day before city officials announced a lease had been signed with the federal government to house migrants at the field, which is now a National Park site. Floyd Bennett Field is owned by the federal government and patrolled by federal law enforcement agencies.
In a statement on Friday, Sept. 15, New York City Mayor Eric Adams said the city lacked the resources to house the influx of migrants and demanded more assistance from the federal government. “As I have said before, because we haven’t seen meaningful policy changes that would alter the course of this crisis, we’ve been forced to unsustainably open new site after new site as asylum seekers continue to arrive by the thousands,” Adams said.
Tensions between his administration and residents in the outer boroughs have been mounting as the openings of what the city calls “Migrant Relief Centers” are opposed by many living in those neighborhoods.
At the protest, New York State Assemblywoman Jamie Williams, a Democrat who represents Mill Basin and Canarsie, publicly chastised Governor Hochul for what she said was a lack of response to the crisis from Albany. “[You] should be ashamed of yourself, ashamed of yourself for taking these migrants and wanting to put them in Floyd Bennett Field. Put them in Buffalo, put them in Erie County! But you wouldn’t do that,” Williams said.
Jeffrey, a Brooklynite who attended the protest but would not give his full name, cited rumors that migrants are coming from a multitude of countries.
“We are having a flood of unknowns, people that are coming to the area,” he said. “We are having a spate of robberies, we are having a spate of shoplifting, we are having all sorts of things,” he said, without providing any evidence that these problems were connected to the migrants. “When they pull the people over, they are finding people not from South America, they are finding people from Africa, they are finding people from Europe,” he claimed.
Protesters vowed to continue their actions until their concerns are addressed.