Some New York City students had another taste of COVID-era lockdowns on Wednesday, January 10, 2024, as they were forced to stay away from school to accommodate visiting migrants. City officials had relocated migrants from their tents at the Floyd Bennett Field due to powerful winds and heavy rains.
By 5 p.m. on Tuesday, about 1,900 migrants alighted from dozens of buses and made their way to James Madison High School’s gym and auditorium, which would become their new shelter. Earlier, the school authority had told students to remain at home from, where they would take their classes the next day.
A teacher at the school told the press that they received the communication via email on Tuesday morning. “At 6:30 a.m., they sent an email, just a storm coming and migrants will be coming to this site,” the teacher disclosed.
Even though the migrants left the school for their tents as early as 4:30 a.m. on Wednesday, the school remained closed for the day. Concerned individuals have also criticized the timing of their departure.
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State Assemblyman Michael Novakhov wondered about the rationale for such an early movement. “I’m sympathetic to migrants, to have no idea why they removed during the night,” he said. “Those people have kids — 4:15 in the morning? School is closed anyways. They could’ve stayed here until 6 or 7 a.m.,” he said.
Besides the timing of the migrant’s departure, city officials also faced even heavier backlash over their choice of a school for temporary shelter. On Wednesday, parents of schoolchildren gathered at the school to voice their displeasure over the move. “It’s inexcusable to do this to the students of New York City high schools, especially after all they’ve been through with COVID,” a parent said.
Residents and community leaders also joined parents for the protest. Steve, a community resident, added his voice to those of the parents. “They have to come up with another solution. They cannot do this to school kids,” he said.
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The protesters also advised City officials to find an alternative site for the migrants’ tent. In their view, the Floyd Bennett Field is too vulnerable to storms and, therefore, isn’t a good shelter for immigrants.
In their response, City officials agreed with the protesters. They disclosed that Floyd Bennett Field wasn’t their first choice for housing the asylum-seekers. But it was the best location they could get from federal and state officials.
They also said that James Madison High School will no longer make the list of alternative shelters for asylum-seekers. Zach Iscol, Commissioner of New York City’s Emergency Management, defended their school choice. He said the agency decided “out of an abundance of caution to insure the safety and well-being of individuals working and living at the center.”
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The school also received a bomb threat amidst the anger over the situation. City officials also voiced their displeasure over the threats to the school.
Officials say they are looking to secure a better site for the migrants, especially as more asylum seekers could add to the 70,000 currently in the city’s care. According to Iscol, an ideal location would be a “military base, an airfield, a park someplace upstate, someplace outside the city, someplace where we could do some of this work.”
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