A community meeting in Brooklyn descended into a shouting match when concerned residents from several family-friendly neighborhoods expressed extreme dissatisfaction to their council member over a massive migrant shelter in the area.
City Councilwoman Crystal Hudson was met with anger by her constituents when she tried to speak at the community meeting Monday night.
Residents in the family-oriented Clinton Hill neighborhood remain concerned about the migrant shelter that opened last summer right next to the Brooklyn Navy Yard.
The shelter currently houses more than 3,000 single men who illegally crossed the southern border before being transported to New York City.
Residents fear the enormous shelter will endanger their children and the area.
Councilwoman Crystal Hudson (center) – who had Borough President Adrienne Adams and Comptroller Brad Lander at her side – spoke to angry Brooklynites
Clinton Hill residents are outraged by the migrant shelter at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, which they say is endangering their children
Hudson didn’t help her cause when she stood up in the middle of the meeting to announce that a stabbing had occurred near the shelter earlier in the day.
“There was an incident earlier today – it’s not the first incident, I hope it will be the last – there was a stabbing in the park,” Hudson said.
The victim was reportedly treated at the scene. It is not clear whether migrants were involved in the stabbing.
But Hudson’s comments nonetheless sparked even more intense frustration among the crowd at the Boys and Girls Navy Yard Clubhouse.
The news prompted some already angry voters to stand up and shout.
“You’re avoiding the problem,” a man said into a microphone, speaking about the shelter. “Is there a universe where the city can safely house 3,200 single men?”
‘That is not possible!’ some people in the crowd shouted in response.
‘It’s unsafe! It’s unsafe!’ others shouted.
Last week, a young male migrant was stabbed when a fight broke out outside the shelter.
During the meeting, Hudson — with City President Adrienne Adams and Comptroller Brad Lander at her side — encouraged angry attendees to save their anger for City Hall.
She then accused the mayor of a lack of support in tackling the migrant crisis.
“We literally said exactly what you just said… I understand the frustration. I understand… But my office did everything we could,” she said, according to the local reporter Arya Sundaram.
The makeshift migrant shelter next to the Brooklyn Navy Yard currently houses more than 3,000 single male migrants
Hudson (right) with New York Senator and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer
Hudson tried to tell her constituents to take their frustration out on the New York mayor’s office, which she said has not provided enough support on the immigrant issue.
Mayor Eric Adams has previously expressed frustration with the city’s lack of resources and legal options to stem the flow of tens of thousands of migrants being sent from the border to New York, a haven.
Alejandro Gonzalez, spokesperson for Councilman Hudson, said in a statement to the New York Post that her office reaffirmed its commitment to “caring for” undocumented immigrants.
“We have seen people coming together to routinely provide material support to migrants. “But individual generosity does not preclude the government’s need to guide collective action, and so far the mayor’s office has failed in that regard,” he also said.
“There is a need for the city to provide additional resources to address the emerging challenges facing both new and old residents, and to share a vision for a long-term strategy that we can all work towards in the five districts.’