Eric Adams suspends public hearings on migrant housing plans in emergency order.

New York City Mayor Suspends Land Use Review to House Migrants

New York City Democratic Mayor Eric Adams has taken a drastic step to expedite the search for housing for illegal immigrants coming to the city. Adams suspended the city’s Uniform Land Use Review Procedure used in city planning to weigh interests and receive public input. The “humanitarian crisis” that has exploded in the city because of illegal migrants from the southern border necessitated the drastic step, according to an emergency executive order enacted on Monday.

Backlash Over Housing Migrants in Neighborhoods and Schools

The order comes as the city faces growing backlash over its handling of the influx of migrants. Residents are protesting the city’s decision to potentially house migrants in neighborhoods and schools. Students and their parents at three Brooklyn schools took to the streets this week to protest the city’s plan to house migrants in at least 20 school gymnasiums across the city. Many involved in the protest carried signs such as “I need recess” and “I want to go to school safe please!”

Concerns Over Safety of Children

Parents are concerned about the safety of their children with migrants potentially living in school gymnasiums. “I don’t feel safe having adult men with no criminal background checks or health screenings living at our children’s school,” said Richard Cabo, whose daughter is in sixth grade. “It makes me want to cry, honestly,” said Jesenia Velez, whose daughter is in second grade. “I do sympathize with what’s going on, but I just don’t think it should be on school grounds. If you’re going to accept people in, that’s fine, but they should be nowhere near kids. It’s not the right place.”

City Running Out of Options

Adams has said that the city is running out of options. It has received more than 65,000 of the millions of migrants that have entered the U.S. since the border crisis began after President Joe Biden won the White House. “Each gym, the 20 gyms that we are looking at, we have not made a final determination on all the gyms, but that we are looking at are separate from the actual school buildings, they are independent from the school buildings, they are not in buildings where schools are,” Adams said.

Emergency Measures to Meet Immediate Needs

The order suspends “the holding of public hearings, the certification of applications, the submission of recommendations, any required or necessary voting, the taking of final actions, and the issuance of determinations” related to zoning, leasing, and construction of migrant shelters until the emergency comes to an end. “The City now faces an unprecedented humanitarian crisis that requires it to take extraordinary measures to meet the immediate needs of the asylum seekers while continuing to serve the tens of thousands of people who are currently using the DHS Shelter System,” the order says.

Emergency Meeting Held

More than 200 parents and city school officials held an “emergency meeting” on Tuesday night over the city’s plan. Parents told a local news outlet that the meeting did little to answer their concerns over housing migrants so close to students.

Conclusion

The situation in New York City highlights the ongoing crisis at the southern border and the challenges that cities across the country are facing in dealing with the influx of migrants. While emergency measures may be necessary to meet the immediate needs of asylum seekers, it is important to consider the safety and well-being of local residents, particularly children.