Southeast Brooklyn and Rockaway residents continue the fight against sheltering 7,500 single adult male asylum seekers at Floyd Bennett Field, part of Gateway National Park. Canarsie native Curtis Sliwa and Sid Rosenberg, both 77 WABC radio hosts, led another protest at the entrance to the federal site on Thursday, September 14th, where hundreds of protestors gathered to voice their opposition to building a “tent city” at the location.
Elected officials, including Assemblywoman Jaime Williams, who is adamantly opposed to using Floyd Bennett Field to shelter migrants, were also in attendance and vowed to continue to advocate for their constituents. The Aviator Sports Complex is at the site; 30 different schools use the facilities, and parents are worried about their children’s safety. “Every day, people are calling my office, concerned about their kids going there,” Williams said.
She’s calling for President Joe Biden to close our borders and said Governor Kathy Hochul should be ashamed of herself for wanting to put migrants at Floyd Bennett Field. Housing asylum seekers will cost the city millions of dollars, and city services will have to be cut, as recently announced by Mayor Eric Adams. “If we cut our officers, FDNY, EMS, Sanitation, who is going to pay for it? You will pay for it!” Williams exclaimed.
Sliwa is concerned with open borders too. “If we look at just one problem an open border provides, think of all the terrorists who have previously decided that New York City was their number one target,” he said, firing up the crowd. “Look at the most recent groups crossing our borders. They are coming from countries like Mauritius, a hotbed of ISIS, al-Qaeda activity; Sudan, which is at Civil War; Nigeria where there are jihadists. Their number one location to strike is New York City. And we are making it so easy for them!”
“Mayor Adams is cutting our basic services. It’s like he’s saying, ‘I gotta screw the people I was elected to represent in order to help illegal aliens and potentially some terrorists, sex traffickers, drug dealers, gang bangers – over American citizens.’”
“Why isn’t he putting them in Central Park? Because there are contributors to Eric Adams on the East Side and West Side who said, ‘Oh, no you don’t.’ Eric Adams answers to the rich. He has forsaken you!” Sliwa told the angry crowd.
The number of asylum seekers arriving in NYC since the spring of 2022 has recently surpassed 113,000 people.
Photos by Charles Jones
