Floyd Bennett Field migrants leaves NYC’ers fuming over reported spike in robberies, scams and an arrests near shelter
Brooklyn residents and police are outraged after a perceived spike in crime among their newest neighbors: migrants at the Floyd Bennett Field shelter.
In mid-November, nearly 2,000 migrants were moved to the isolated temporary shelter as the city ran out of housing options.
Local residents told the New York Post that shoplifting, panhandling, scams and street prostitution have increased since the migrants moved there.
An NYPD officer told the Post, “This s*** has gotten out of hand.”
New York City is currently home to more than 68,000 migrants, and as hotels and other lodging facilities reach capacity, options are becoming increasingly limited. More than 116,000 migrants have flooded the city since April 2022, when southern governors began busing them to northern cities to help combat the crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn is being used to house 2,000 migrants in a makeshift shelter
Families are crammed into tents and many are falling ill in the cramped conditions. Locals have complained of an increase in crime, including prostitution and robberies
The temporary tents were built after hotels and other shelters reached capacity in the city. More than 116,000 migrants have arrived in the Big Apple since April 2022
Residents told the Post that migrants from the Floyd Bennett shelter have been running scams along Flatbush Avenue near Kings Plaza, where they encounter traffic and pretend to be hit before asking drivers for $500.
“They scare people by saying, ‘You just hit me, and I’m going to report it if you don’t give me the money,’” the unnamed officers said.
Sal Calise, president of the Bergen Beach Civic Association, told the Post that he almost fell victim to the scheme on Jan. 6 when a man walked into traffic, causing him to swerve and almost hit a parked car.
‘I looked back in my rearview mirror and he turned around and laughed at the migrants sitting on the corner,” Calise said.
“They had all their phones in their hands like they were ready to film. I thought, ‘This is clearly a set-up.’
Calise said the scam was discussed at an association meeting Tuesday, but police told the Post that no one formally reported the scam, so they have nothing to comment on.
Five arrests have been made at the center since it opened.
Families are being forced to resort to stealing necessities from nearby stores, some locals say
Residents complained that the camp has led to a spike in crime in the area
Josue Parica Villanueba, 25, formerly of Venezuela, was arrested on December 20 for allegedly choking and beating his girlfriend. He pleaded not guilty.
Two women were arrested for assaulting men and another man was arrested for hitting his father. They all pleaded not guilty.
A 36-year-old Ecuadorian staying at the tent center with her three children told the Post: ‘It’s a small space with a lot of people in it, so people argue so much and they argue about things like food and clothing.
“They also get angry when other people are too loud and don’t look at their children.”
There is also reportedly a problem with shoplifting at the nearby Target in Kings Plaza.
One guard told the Post that an estimated 10 migrants steal food a day and said he routinely looks the other way because he feels sorry for them.
“It’s always a family, a single mother with her child who has a toy,” the unnamed guard said.
Target security guards at Kings Plaza said they regularly see migrant families trying to shoplift. “It’s always a family, a single mother with her child who has a toy,” said an unnamed security guard
“I let them take the food away, I have a good heart.”
Tay Ross, another Target security guard, said, “They’re turning things over quickly. I think people are realizing there’s no point in going to jail. If they try to feed themselves, it doesn’t bother me.’
A manager at Primark next door said they had spotted migrants trying to steal ‘essentials’ such as socks, jackets and underwear.
The cramped conditions at the site mean people routinely get sick.
A 36-year-old Ecuadorian woman told the Post: ‘People are always sick here, especially the children, because there are too many people in small rooms, all closed off here.
Councilwoman Joann Ariola, a frequent critic of Adams’ handling of the migrant crisis, said she predicted problems with the Floyd Bennett shelter from the start.
New York City has kicked out students from a Brooklyn high school to move nearly 2,000 migrants housed at Floyd Bennett Field ahead of a potentially damaging storm
She said, “Floyd Bennett Field is completely unsuitable for a tent complex, and we are wasting taxpayer dollars to evacuate nearly 2,000 people when they should have been placed somewhere like the Park Slope Armory.”
Some residents claim that a vacant lot nearby is being used by migrant women for prostitution.
The community was angry last week after the city sent children home from a school so they could use the building to house Floyd Bennett Field migrants during a dangerous storm.
“To be clear, this move is a proactive measure taken out of an abundance of caution to ensure the safety and well-being of those who work and live downtown,” Kayla Mamelak, spokesperson for Mayor Eric Adams, said in a statement. a statement. .
DailyMail.com reached out to Target and the NYPD for comment. City officials have not yet commented on the reported spike in crimes.