Team Adams gives tour of Floyd Bennett migrant…

Latest Headlines
SUBSCRIBER ONLY

Team Adams gives tour of Floyd Bennett migrant shelter in radically different
setup for families

The newly erected migrant housing facility at Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn is pictured on Monday, Oct. 30, 2023. (Theodore Parisienne for New York Daily News)

By Michael Gartland | mgartland@nydailynews.com | New York Daily News

PUBLISHED: October 30, 2023 at 5:38 p.m. | UPDATED: October 30, 2023 at 5:47 p.m.

Top officials from Mayor Adams’ administration offered a glimpse Monday into the sprawling migrant
shelter complex set to open within days at Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn, a radically different setup
for families that’s raising questions over its suitability.

During a tour with reporters, Emergency Management Commissioner Zach Iscol and Health +
Hospitals executive Ted Long emphasized what their boss, Mayor Adams, has been saying for weeks —
that the city’s shelter system is overflowing and that the Adams administration is doing the best it can
with dwindling resources.

During a tour with reporters, Emergency Management Commissioner Zach Iscol (left) and Health + Hospitals executive Ted Long
(speaking) emphasized what their boss, Mayor Adams, has been saying for weeks — that the city’s shelter system is overflowing
and that the Adams administration is doing the best it can with dwindling resources. (Theodore Parisienne for New York Daily
News)

“We are at capacity,” Iscol said. “We’re doing everything we can to keep up with the demand. We’re
very grateful to the governor and to the White House for giving us this piece of land. It’s not ideal, but
we are doing the best we can with what they’ve given us.”

The sprawling site, which President Biden’s administration granted permission for the city to use in
August in a deal brokered by Gov. Hochul, sits atop federal land and is in one of the most remote parts
of Brooklyn. For weeks, the site’s expected use as a migrant shelter for families with children has been
a lightning rod for controversy with City Councilwoman Joann Ariola suing the city to block the plan
,

from moving forward.

The newly erected migrant housing facility at Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn is pictured on Monday, Oct. 30, 2023. (Theodore
Parisienne for New York Daily News)

On Monday, Iscol and Long walked reporters through a series of massive tents at the site, which once
served as an airfield, with both of them at turns ticking off the particulars about what’s housed in each
tent and the function they serve.

The two also tried to address concerns about flooding — the site is on a floodplain — as well as fire
safety, which recently cropped up as an issue when a migrant shelter was shut down after failing an
FDNY inspection .

The newly erected migrant housing facility at Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn is pictured on Monday, Oct. 30, 2023. (Theodore
Parisienne for New York Daily News)

“These are not firetraps,” Iscol said. “Every single space has issues that we need to address and
mitigate.”

He conceded that there has been no “fire inspection per se” at the Floyd Bennett site, though.

“[W]e work with [FDNY] to understand what are their concerns,” he said. “They have given us a list of
things they are concerned about. We have met all the requirements to sort of meet all of their
concerns with those lists. There are a couple of other things we’re still working through to try and
mitigate, but we’re essentially done.”

The newly erected migrant housing facility at Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn is pictured on Monday, Oct. 30, 2023. (Theodore
Parisienne for New York Daily News)

He also noted that, like any average New Yorker who lives in a floodplain, migrants at Floyd Bennett
would be evacuated in the event of an extreme weather event. Such evacuations, however, have
proved logisitically difficult in the past .

There are a total of four dormitory tents at Floyd Bennett right now and several others that serve as
an intake center, a 24/7 cafeteria and a space for migrant kids to do homework and for parents to
make unlimited phone calls.

The dormitories are of particular concern to advocates, especially given that they’ll soon serve as a
home to migrant children.

The dormitories are of particular concern to advocates, especially given that they’ll soon serve as a home to migrant children.
(Theodore Parisienne for New York Daily News)

The tents are outfitted with what city officials are calling “pods” — bare-boned, partitioned rooms
inside the dormitories where the migrants will stay. There are 128 pods furnished with cots, floor
lamps and convertible cribs now set up at Floyd Bennett with the ability to house about 500 people.

The doors lock — and there will be 24-7 security, according to Long — but the rooms have no ceilings,
which could leave them open to intrusion if someone is intent on getting in.

Legal Aid Society attorney Josh Goldfein, who’s planning to tour the shelter Tuesday and whose group
is fighting the Adams administration in court over its attempt to suspend the city’s right-to-shelter

decree, said that, based on photos of the shelter, the pods could be characterized as “semicongregate”
housing units, a potential legal no-no.

The newly erected migrant housing facility at Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn is pictured on Monday, Oct. 30, 2023. (Theodore
Parisienne for New York Daily News)

Under state law, municipalities in New York are prohibited from housing homeless children in
congregate shelters due to documented instances of abuse taking place in such settings.

“We’ll see for ourselves tomorrow … but people can’t sleep if they’re worried about people jumping
over a 10-foot wall to hurt their kid,” he said. “There’s plenty of research to indicate why it’s bad to
house children in these settings.”

2023 October 30

More in Politics

SUBSCRIBER ONLY SUBSCRIBER ONLY Trump rails against Judge Tanya Jewish group at Cornell targeted
Migrants offered tickets out of Just 0.5% of registered NYC voters Chutkan after she reimposes by antisemitic threats; Gov. Hochul
NYC, indefinite wait for housing as cast ballots in first two days of partial gag order in Jan. 6 election condemns, dispatches state police
crisis crashes shelter system early voting: ‘We can do better!’ interference case for protection

Tribune Publishing Company Info Subscriber Services

Chicago Tribune About Us Archives
Baltimore Sun Careers
The Morning Call Help Center
The Daily Press Manage Web Notifications
The Virginian Pilot Place an ad
Orlando Sentinel Media Kit
Sun-Sentinel Privacy Policy
Hartford Courant Site Map
Capital Gazette
Studio 1847

Subscriber Terms and Conditions Cookie Policy Cookie Preferences California Notice at Collection CA Notice of Financial Incentive Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
Copyright © 2023 New York Daily News