Pols oppose city’s proposed Creedmoor shelter bed increase

Elected officials and community members rallied on Monday against the city’s proposal to bring 170 additional beds to the Creedmoor migrant tent shelter. Office of COuncilmember Linda Lee

By Ryan Schwach

Local Eastern Queens electeds and community members criticized the Adams administration on Monday for considering additional beds for the migrant shelter located near the Creedmoor Psychiatric Center.

Elected officials and community leaders rallied at the SNAP Center adjacent to the Creedmoor shelter on Monday in opposition to a proposed 170 bed increase at the site. The officials argued that the 1,000-bed Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Center – or HERRC – has been an unfair burden to the surrounding residential community who have already done their fair share to host the migrants even as the city’s migrant numbers have decreased.

Opposition to the shelter isn’t new. Even before the shelter’s doors were first opened in August of last year, it has been the site of numerous protests and rallies opposing its operation.

Officials claimed that the isolated shelter would mean migrants would find it difficult to move around the city, and that the population increase would clash with the mostly-residential neighborhood surrounding the shelter.

“We were here last summer to speak out against the proposed construction of the 1,000-person tent shelter behind us,” said State Assemblymember Ed Braunstein.

“Our concerns have been borne out that this shelter has had a significant negative impact on the quality of life,” added Braunstein, who said that Creedmoor, unlike the shelters at Floyd Bennett Field and Randall’s Island, is the only massive tent HERRC near a residential neighborhood.

Now, officials are saying those concerns are still relevant as the city wants to add beds, saying that the Eastern Queens neighborhoods surrounding the shelter have already done their fair share.

“We've been super patient and understanding, but what we don't want to see is 170, and then maybe another 170 more after that,” said Councilmember Linda Lee. “Where does it end? Where does it stop?”

“We understand that there is a migrant crisis, but as everyone has pointed out, this is in the middle of a residential neighborhood,” Lee added. “There's other sites. I think there's other locations that we can find for the 170 folks.”

Lee asked for the community’s help in finding places to house migrants.

The officials say that local groups, including the Little League across the street from the shelter, are concerned, buses are crowded and that the neighborhood has seen more litter.

At the same time they also shot down crime concerns, saying that although certain crimes have gone up in the area, the local 105th Precinct has told them those staying at the shelter are not responsible.

Lee’s office has removed bike racks from the sidewalk in front of the shelter because they were being used for e-bikes, powered by lithium-ion batteries which have been responsible for several fire related deaths in recent months.

“It's unfair that this community should be burdened with the additional beds coming into Creedmoor, you’ve done our fair share, you’ve shouldered what the city has asked you to do,” said Chair of Community Board 13 Bryan Block, addressing the community. “Enough is enough, no more as far as Community Board 13 stands.”

“The administration has to understand how we feel out here,” he added.

State Senator Toby Ann Stavisky, who also spoke Monday, pointed out that the number of asylum seekers still in the city’s care have decreased by 5 percent, which should not constitute what would be a 17 percent increase of beds at the Creedmoor shelter.

“The mayor's own numbers indicate that the amount of asylum seekers in their care has gone down,” said Braunstein. “If the numbers are going down, why are we increasing the numbers here? It's unfair to our community.”

On top of their concerns with the 170 additional beds proposed for Creedmoor, the officials also asked that a curfew be put in place for the Department of Health and Hospitals-run site. Health and Hospitals does not impose curfews at its tent HERRC’s located at Creedmoor, Floyd Bennett or Randall’s Island, while the Department of Homeless Services does at its smaller shelter sites.

“We actually want the curfews to be applicable to the tent as well,” said Lee. “That's something we've been asking for, we're going to continue to push for it.”

Newly elected Congressmember Tom Suozzi was originally slated to join the rally, but was called to Washington D.C, where he will be sworn in this week following his special election victory two weeks ago.

Suozzi instead left a statement, which was read by Braunstein

“I hear from the residents who live near Creedmoor that they don't feel safe, and I am as sick and tired as they are of the failure of Congress to address the migrant crisis,” he said. “Washington must stop playing politics with this very serious issue…We need fewer beds here at Creedmoor, not more.”

In response to the pushback on their plan, City Hall called for more state and federal support, and urged “partners in government” to help asylum seekers.

“With more than 65,000 migrants still in our care and hundreds more continuing to arrive every single day, we continue to need additional support from our state and federal partners,” a City Hall spokesperson said. “We encourage our partners in government to work with us collaboratively to assist the state in its efforts to relocate thousands of eligible migrant families and continue to call on the federal government to provide New York City with additional financial support and migrants with the immediate right to work.”

There is currently no date or timeline for when the additional 170 beds will be placed at Creedmoor.