BY ANDY OLIVAN
Residents of Bay Ridge protested against an alleged plan to bring a migrant shelter to Shore Road Park. Guardian Angels founder and unsuccessful mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa led the October 3rd protest in John Paul Jones Park joined by Republican Councilmen Ari Kagan and Paul Rodriguez in response to the growing number of migrants arriving in New York City.
But according to Democratic Councilmember Justin Brannan, there is no such plan.
The rally focused on condemning Brannan, who is facing Kagan in the upcoming City Council race to represent the newly drawn District 47 which includes Coney Island, Bath Beach, and parts of Bay Ridge. Speakers also condemned Mayor Eric Adams for allowing migrants to come into the city.
“There have never been any plans to put a migrant shelter in Bay Ridge. This is a made-up controversy meant to distract and divide us,” said Brannan in an Instagram post hours before the rally. “They’re staging a rally to stop something that isn’t even happening.”
“I’ve spoken directly with Governor Hochul, Mayor Adams, as well as representatives from the Department of Defense and the Department of the Army, and it was never even on the table. Shore Road Park is also not being used as a migrant camp,” added Brannan.
During the rally, Sliwa acknowledged Brannan’s words but told the crowd that he gets his information from “civil servants who will remain anonymous” under Eric Adams’ administration regarding where migrant shelters will be implemented across the five boroughs.
“Why should those people have to wait to enter the country legally and the attorneys and the fees and all that they do and you just get to fly on over and then everything gets handed to you? It’s just not right,” said Alexis Popov, 35, a Bay Ridge resident for the past eight years who comes from an immigrant family.
She added, “Tax dollars being spent on non-American citizens when we have veterans who are not taken care of in this country.”
Sliwa has advocated against migrants coming to New York City since Texas Governor, Gregory Abbott sent the first wave in 2022.
“There are no checks and balances. Again, you can declare yourself to be whatever you want to be as an illegal alien, and we have to give you everything that our own Americans don’t get who are down on their luck,” Sliwa told the crowd in reference to the Venezuelan migrants at the Roosevelt Hotel. “We get deprived of services because the mayor has said he’s going to take care of the illegal aliens first before he takes care of the citizens and that is wrong.”
Gary Kay, 48, listens to Sliwa’s radio show everyday and opposes providing shelters for new migrants.
“I really think they’re destroying New York City and I think it’s time for them to go to other states,” said Kay.
“You don’t know who they are, they’re not vaccinated, you don’t know if they’re pedophiles, you don’t know if they’re criminals, you don’t know if they’re drug dealers, they have no background checks,” said Kay.
Throughout the rally protestors chanted, “Not now, not ever.” But in the eyes of Brannan, the demonstration was a tactic to instill fear and divide the community during the election campaign.
“Let me make it crystal clear,” Brannan said in the same Instagram post. “Fort Hamilton Army Base – the only active-duty military installation in New York City – is not being used to house migrants.”
Sliwa, Brannan said, is a “washed-up comic book villain and serial liar.”