Residents of Staten Island continue their discontent regarding the use of their neighborhood as a shelter for asylum seekers and other migrants in New York City after outraged residents took to the streets Tuesday night (September 19) to physically block the arrival of a Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) bus carrying asylum seekers to a newly-converted shelter.
Protestors Jeer Migrants Inside MTA Bus
According to the New York Post, protesters were captured on video wailing and banging on the sides of the bus they had intercepted, which was scheduled to head to the former Island Shores senior assisted living facility, where the migrants are to stay.
In one of the videos, which has since been deleted, some protestors outside the facility at Father Capodanno Boulevard and Midland Avenue showed people whistling and screaming, "You're not welcome!" and "You are illegal!"
Other videos show demonstrators carrying signs and chanting "USA!" while a man with a megaphone denounced the migrants' arrival.
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Arrests and Reactions
Police said 10 people were arrested and taken into custody, nine of them being issued summonses for disorderly conduct. One of those arrested, 48-year-old Vadim Belyakov, was also charged for allegedly assaulting an officer who was trying to make an arrest.
Despite this, police stated that no physical altercations were reported with any migrants or bus personnel.
In the aftermath of the incident, New York Mayor Eric Adams (D) told reporters Wednesday morning (September 20) that the demonstration was an "ugly display" put on by a very small group of New Yorkers that should not represent the city's 8.3 million residents as a whole.
"Of course, New Yorkers are frustrated, New Yorkers are really concerned. And even the migrants are really concerned," he said. "We are both stating that this crisis should be dealt with in a manner where the national government carries out the role that it is supposed to. It should not be left on the backs of New York City residents."
Most of Staten Island's residents are Republican supporters, the only one of New York's five boroughs that lean towards the GOP.
New York's Efforts to Tackle Asylum Seekers, Migrants
Meanwhile, the city's officials have been considering changing how long single adult asylum seekers can stay in city shelters from 60 days to 30.
It has been earlier reported that New York Governor Kathy Hochul (D) met with US President Joe Biden Tuesday (September 19) during his New York trip for the UN General Assembly this week to apparently discuss the migrant crisis. However, the president has not met Adams about the matter.
Nevertheless, Adams told local media he would be looking forward to having the asylum seekers issue resolved.
"We need a decompression strategy, we need to properly fund this national crisis by calling it a state of emergency and we need to allow the asylum seekers to work," he emphasized, adding that he thought it "wrong" for New Yorkers to be responsible for what he said could be a $12 billion tab over the next three years.
