A protest at New York City’s handling of the refugee crisis resulted in protesters from both sides being involved in a violent clash outside the Gracie Mansion on Sunday.
Former New York City mayoral candidate and founder of the Guardian Angels, Curtis Sliwa was one of the main speakers at the protest and one of the many arrested as Trump supporters and pro-migration protesters fought beatings.
About half of the 100 people gathered called for the shelters to be closed and for the migrants to be deported, while others were counter-protesters who also denounced what they described as the “white supremacist NYPD.”
Sliwa spoke out against his former opponent, Democratic Mayor Eric Adams, who has opened over 200 shelters across the five boroughs to house the 100,000 people who have arrived in the Big Apple from the southern border.
“These migrants avoided the queue,” Sliwa said. “If I were a migrant and you gave me a chance to skip the line and stay in a hotel, give me three decent meals… – basically give me more than American-born homeless people or hapless veterans -” You did damn right they will keep coming.’
A protest at New York City’s handling of the refugee crisis resulted in protesters from both sides being involved in a violent clash outside the Gracie Mansion on Sunday
About half of the 100 people gathered supported embassies calling for the shelters to be closed and the migrants to be deported, while others were counter-protesters who also denounced what they described as the “white supremacist NYPD.”
He stuck to his message: “Americans first, migrants’ turn!”
Sliwa – a long-time presence in New York media and politics since founding the organization Unarmed Crime Prevention – was arrested for a second time this week after leading a protest against the construction of emergency shelters on Staten Island.
He was also detained at a protest rally at a closed psychiatric center in Queens two weeks ago. He told the New York Post on Sunday that this was his 80th arrest.
In early August, New York lawmakers announced plans to house at least 80 newly arrived migrants in McCarren Park in Brooklyn.
The group live in makeshift shelters in the park’s recreation center, popular with residents of the affluent and hyperliberal Williamsburg neighborhood thanks to its swimming pool and gym.
Facilities at the leisure center will not be affected by the new residents, local officials said in a joint statement.
Adams has also used Randall’s Island and pondered Central Park to house migrants, who were seen sleeping in the hundreds on the streets in front of the Roosevelt Hotel in Manhattan.
The mayor’s office recently warned that New York’s migrant shelters have reached capacity, and officials said they are in the process of barring those who have crossed the southern border from getting into the Big Apple.
A counter-protester is arrested after a confrontation with anti-migrant protesters during a rally and protest outside the Gracie Mansion
Former New York City mayoral candidate and founder of the Guardian Angels, Curtis Sliwa, was one of the main speakers at the protest and one of the many arrested as Trump supporters and pro-migration protesters fought beatings
The NYPD made several arrests, including Sliwa and two supporters arrested for civil disobedience
The groups were divided into groups with Sliwa, promigrant protesters and conservatives
According to the city’s latest data, more than 59,000 migrants are in city shelters, with hundreds more arriving every week
Sliwa – a long-time presence in New York media and politics since founding the organization Unarmed Crime Prevention – was arrested for a second time this week after leading a protest against the construction of emergency shelters on Staten Island
Several protests erupted across the city against the mayor’s handling of the refugee crisis
It is estimated that Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott bused nearly 10,000 migrants north in New York City last month.
City officials say the number of migrants arriving in New York since the spring of 2022 is nearing 100,000, overwhelming a shelter system designed to accommodate tens of thousands fewer people.
New York City has a unique, court-ordered obligation to provide emergency housing to anyone who asks, but officials have said in recent weeks that the influx of migrants seeking asylum in the US is making it increasingly difficult have to comply with this obligation.
Although the number of migrants crossing the border has declined in recent months, busloads still arrive almost daily. City officials said around 2,300 more migrants arrived in the city last week alone to seek shelter.
Last month, Adams dispatched envoys to the border to distribute leaflets, informing migrants that housing in his city was no longer guaranteed and that housing and food in New York City were expensive. It prompted them to consider other US cities as well.