As “how to deal with an influx of illegals to my sanctuary city,” Martha’s Vineyard should be looking pretty good right now.
…Mayor Eric Adams is finalizing a deal with the Norwegian Cruise Line to house migrants on one of its massive cruise ships and dock it at Staten Island’s Homeport, The Post has learned.
Adams wants to lease the luxury liner for at least six months and use it to house and process migrants before they enter the city’s shelter system, a source familiar with the matter said.
The migrants would be allowed to come and go while staying on the ship, the source said.
Wow. The mayor’s preliminary estimates say it’s going to be cheaper than the tent city he’s already building to handle the mi…what’s that you say? You hadn’t heard about that?
Oh, yes. Hizzoner has lovely facilities going up in the Bronx (NOT Manhattan, go figure) to tuck those unwelcome guests into. Currently under construction to help handle what is characterized as “an enormous influx of migrants” by local NYC paper The Daily News (“Enormous”? 10,500 at last count – I laugh in Texas bordertown-ese.), said tents are already a bone of contention, as the city has very strong right-to-shelter protocols. Mayor Adams is parsing his terminology in an effort to tap-dance around those requirements.
Mayor Adams acknowledged Tuesday that his administration’s controversial migrant tent camp in the Bronx may violate local right-to-shelter rules that have tripped him up several times this summer as the city struggles to accommodate waves of Latin American asylum seekers.
…During a press conference in Manhattan Tuesday morning, Adams shed some light on the matter as he said for the first time that he does not believe right-to-shelter rules should apply to the tent facility that the city is erecting in the Orchard Beach parking lot to house hundreds of migrants.
“The migrant crisis is outside of the housing initiative that we are doing for right-to-shelter,” Adams told reporters when asked if the Orchard Beach site will comply with right-to-shelter protocols. “These are two different entities. We are dealing with a humanitarian crisis that was created by human hands.”
Earlier in the news conference, he said, “This is not a shelter issue. This is a humanitarian, refugee, migrant crisis.”
Besides dumping the tent complex in working class Bronx, they chose a spot one could call less than optimum for habitation. Undoubtably why it was left a parking lot to begin with.
…In addition to the right-to-shelter dilemma, elected officials in the Bronx have raised concern about the safety of the Orchard Beach site.
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The entire parking lot where city workers started building the tent facilities this week is designated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency as a “special flood hazard area,” meaning it could be at great risk of dangerous storm surges.
With hurricane season kicking up, Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson said Monday that the parking lot is thereby “not the ideal location” for a tent camp and confirmed she has raised concerns about it to Adams’ team.
Supposedly it routinely floods like a mo-fo. But it’s dry and empty now, so Put living quarters for illegals there! We’ll move them if we have to. (This could be especially germane a week or so from now, depending on what the remnants of Hurricane Ian do.) There’s another issue being raised, in addition to the total unsuitability of the site itself, when one considers the Bronx. As the poorest county – not only in NYC, but in the entire state – the borough and citizens who live there are in dreadful shape, economically. Now the city is going to add these people?
…A Bronx elected official, who spoke only on condition of anonymity to discuss the matter candidly, said the issue of the Orchard Beach facility extends beyond flood risks and right-to-shelter, though.
“These migrants need access to jobs,” the official said. “Why bring them to the borough with the highest level of unemployment and little resources?”
Why, indeed. There’s a question with an obvious answer.
There’s going to be a significant cash outlay every month for this parking lot lodging – $15M a month – which is why Adams is talking to Norwegian for the next stage in his “where to put them” quest. No one knows if he’s cleared using the former Staten Island naval base as a docking home for his floating hotel, although he has spoken to Staten Island officials about it. They seem resigned.
…“I knew this was a possibility but until Biden shuts off the border I am not sure how we can continue to accommodate these people without taking over every inch of parkland with tent cities. This arguably may be a more reasonable way to cope with the crisis than people might think,” said Councilman Joe Borelli (R-Staten Island).
Martha’s Vineyard shunted their illegal migrant arrivals off to a military base lickety-split, and, with them housed on a cruiseliner, I can’t help but think of the British prison ships in New York Harbor during the Revolutionary War.
…The migrants would be allowed to come and go while staying on the ship, the source said.
We’ll see how long that lasts and what the neighbors think. Staten Island is the richest borough in the city.
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