Posted on May 16, 2023

Adams Says Migrants Could Be Put In 20 NYC School Gyms

Isabel Keane et al., New York Post, May 16, 2023

Mayor Eric Adams on Tuesday said 20 city public-school gyms are now being eyed to hold migrants, although he claimed it’s just a possibility — despite photos this week showing beds set up in two of them and principals warning parents about the move.

Adams maintained that the city has not yet become so inundated with migrants that they need to be housed in the gyms, saying those who were photographed in a Brooklyn gymnasium over the weekend were there for only “a few hours.”

In the wee hours Tuesday at another Brooklyn school gym, a small busload of migrant men was dropped off to stay there for a few hours before being whisked off again, a source with direct knowledge of the situation told The Post.

“We have 20 stand-alone gymnasiums throughout the city that are not part of the school building. They are on the list of potential locations we may have to use,” Adams told PIX 11.

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About 4,200 migrants arrived in the Big Apple last week, and another 15 buses are expected this weekend.

Adams’ claim of “potential locations” comes after at least 75 migrants were temporarily held at PS 188 in Coney Island on Sunday and ​Tuesday’s pre-dawn drop-off of ​10 others at MS 577​/PS 17​ in Williamsburg.

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The former Richard H. Hungerford School on Tompkins Avenue in Staten Island was set up to receive at least 300 migrants Saturday, though it’s unclear if that is the location the migrants housed at Coney Island were taken Sunday.

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Dozens of incensed parents rallied outside the Williamsburg and Sunset Park schools Tuesday, including some who lashed out at the mayor’s suggestion migrants would only be held at the gym sites for several hours.

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Adams has repeatedly said the city is running out of options as migrants continue to swarm the city after last week’s termination of Title 42, a Trump-era policy that allowed for the quick expulsion of some asylum-seekers over COVID-19 concerns.

As of May 14, nearly 41,000 migrants were staying at the 150 emergency sites scattered across the Big Apple, according to figures released by City Hall on Tuesday.

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