Protests erupt after Manhattan College announces it may house immigrants in former dorm
As immigrants continue to pour into New York City, available housing dwindles and protestors chant for affordable housing.
'Our local Americans who need affordable housing - that's what this dorm should be for,' a Riverdale resident told News 12.
As New York City struggles to accommodate the surge of migrants from the U.S. southern border, locals are protesting the city possibly using a former Manhattan College dormitory to house illegal immigrants.
“Our local Americans who need affordable housing - that’s what this dorm should be for,” a Riverdale resident told NEWS12. “Manhattan College sold us out and now they destroyed their very own community.”
Many community members are outraged at the prospects of having a migrant shelter in their neighborhood. Dozens of residents gathered in the Bronx’s Riverdale neighborhood to protest on Sept. 24. A counter-protest also occurred, but with fewer attendees.
Curtis Sliwa, a former New York mayoral candidate and founder of the non-profit, “Guardian Angels,” an independent safety patrol, attended the Sept. 24 protest, the New York Post reported. Sliwa also protested against the dorm being used as a migrant shelter, chanting that it would only happen over his “dead body.”
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“If you look at the demographics of both groups, on the one side, the pro-migrant group,” Sliwa told the New York Post. “They’re young progressive socialists for the most part. [On the other], these guys, senior citizens, many of them first-generation immigrants from Russia, Eastern Europe, who fled communism.”
Stagg Group, a construction company in the Bronx area that provides affordable housing, bought Overlook Manor from Manhattan College for $18 million, with new ownership beginning in September. The company announced on Sept. 11 that it was considering turning Overlook Manor into an immigrant shelter.
Stagg Group’s not-for-profit partner, Praxis Housing Initiative, has secured a $5.3 million annual contract from the Department of Homeless Services (DHS) to use Overlook Manor as an immigrant shelter, The Riverdale Press reported.
The DHS would pay Stagg Group $2.4 million a year in rent, which equates to about $2,400 per unit per month, according to the contract.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced in January that immigrants are still welcome in the city despite limited space. “That is our obligation and that is what’s morally right,” Adams said.
Now that immigrant numbers have continued to rise, however, Adams altered his opinion.
“We are past our breaking point,” Adams said during an August city hall meeting, according to the New York Post. The city now has more than 57,300 individuals in the care of the DHS per night, which adds up to $9.8 million a day. “That’s almost $300 million a month and nearly $3.6 billion a year,” said Adams, the NYP also reported.
Many of the migrants arrive in New York on buses.
This is not the first time that New York City has used dormitories to shelter migrants. Adams announced on June 12 that two dormitories belonging to the American Musical and Dramatic Academy (AMDA) will be used as migrant mega-shelters, Campus Reform reported.
Elementary schools in New York City have also been used for the same purpose, including the School of the Blessed Sacrament, a private Catholic elementary school, Campus Reform reported. In July, Joe Germanotta, an internet entrepreneur and eyewitness, showed Fox News images taken at the scene, cluttered in liquor bottles and hypodermic needles from the migrants.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul has also mentioned the possibility of using SUNY campuses to house migrants, Campus Reform reported in June. However, legislators recently drafted a new bill that would prevent SUNY from doing so.
Campus Reform contacted Manhattan College, Mayor Eric Adams, the Stagg Group, the New York Department of Homeless Services, and Curtis Sliwa. This article will be updated accordingly.
