City Hall orders nearly 2,000 migrants at Floyd Bennett Field to be evacuated to Brooklyn high school
NEW YORK — Mayor Adams’ administration began relocating nearly 2,000 migrants Tuesday from shelters at Floyd Bennett Field to a southern Brooklyn high school due to extreme weather forecasts.
The migrants will stay overnight at James Madison High School in Midwood, according to a city official.
“We are currently overseeing the relocation of 1,900 guests from the humanitarian emergency response and relief center at Floyd Bennett Field due to an updated forecast with increased wind speeds estimated to be at over 70 MPH tonight,” said Adams’ spokeswoman Kayla Mamelak. “This relocation is a proactive measure being taken out of an abundance of caution to ensure the safety and well-being of individuals working and living at the center.”
When the shelters at Floyd Bennett Field were being set up months ago, critics pointed to the prospect of extreme weather as being a problem at the southern Brooklyn location that borders Jamaica Bay. At the time, the Adams administration conceded that while the plan might not be perfect, it was being enacted due to the city’s severely limited shelter options for migrants.
The administration noted that Tuesday’s relocation was a temporary measure, but critics were quick to pounce.
“This last-minute evacuation further proves that Floyd Bennett Field — a facility mired in a flood zone, miles from schools and other services — has never and will never serve as an appropriate and safe place to shelter families with children,” the Legal Aid Society and Coalition for the Homeless said in a joint statement.
While an administration source told the Daily News that the migrants would be relocated to Madison High School, Adams’ team did not make that clear in its official statement — another point of contention for the advocacy groups.
“The city has provided scant details on its plan for these families, including where exactly they will be moved and for how long and, most importantly, if those temporary locations comply with the shelter requirements for families with children as prescribed by the court and by law,” Legal Aid and the Coalition added. “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.”
Mamelak said that the migrants would continue to be provided with “essential services and support.”
“The relocation will continue until any weather conditions that may arise have stabilized and the facility is once again fit for living,” she said. “We are actively monitoring the situation and will issue updates as necessary.”
