This column, from the weekly opinion piece MATTER OF FACT, first appeared on BrooklynReporter.com, the Home Reporter and Spectator dated October 6, 2023
Addressing the demands placed on the city by the influx of migrants requires a coordinated response from every level of government. Unfortunately, elected officials and political figures have far too often only thrown sand in the gears.
Mayor Adams has worked for more than a year to deal with the issue, and to be fair, there are limits to what the mayor can do. However, his recent tact of throwing his hands up, saying that “this issue will destroy New York City,” while threatening to cut every city agency’s budget by 15 percent and institute a hiring freeze because of it, is not how a leader faces such a challenge.
One thing Adams does not appear to be looking to cut any time soon are the lavish soirees he frequently holds at Gracie Mansion, which have included fetes for lobbyists, fashion designers, social media influencers and a caviar heiress.
In stark contrast, on September 27, Borough President Reynoso announced that his office would no longer be hosting parties or celebrations and instead divert all funding toward addressing the basic needs of New Yorkers affected by the mayor’s cuts. The office of the Borough President’s meager budget will not be able to offset what Brooklynites stand to lose from Adams’ cuts, but Reynoso’s choice in “redefining Brooklyn Borough Hall as an office oriented toward service” makes a powerful statement.
With no one solution able to solve this dilemma, every level of government needs to do whatever it can to collectively address it. That includes our local electeds, who need to deal in facts as they contend with the challenges being faced.
On the same day as Reynoso’s statement, Councilman Ari Kagan issued his own statement on social media related to the migrant issue. On X [formerly Twitter], he posted that “@JustinBrannan & his progressive allies consider using Ft. Hamilton base as a migrant shelter.”
The New York Post article that accompanied this post was strictly about a statement issued a day earlier by Brooklyn Democratic Party leader and member of the Assembly, Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn, where she referenced “feedback from Brooklynites recommending having migrant shelters in communities from Fort Hamilton Army Base,” and then included several other neighborhoods that, historically, have not been home to shelters, for migrants or otherwise.
Many Democrats across Brooklyn would contend that Bichotte Hermelyn is not the best person to be listening to on most issues, but her statement did not mention any actual plan for a shelter location in Fort Hamilton army base, nor did the New York Post article list Brannan anywhere within it, as he clearly had nothing to do with her statement that referenced what she says she has heard from Brooklynites.
The reality is, there is no consideration of using the base as a shelter site and a federally controlled active military base is not an option, regardless of whether the Assemblywoman claims she has heard people ask her about that. Kagan followed up his post the following day with another referencing a possible shelter in the Fort Hamilton base.
Eight weeks earlier, Kagan posted on X [formerly Twitter] that he had “been made aware of a plan to build a tent city at Calvert Vaux Park near Gravesend Bay,” but less than 24 hours later posted, “I have learned today that Calvert Vaux Park near Gravesend Bay was not considered for migrant tent city.” Then, one day after that, Kagan had a fundraiser hosted by Curtis Sliwa, just hours after Sliwa had falsely stated on his WABC radio show that migrants would be housed in Shore Road Park in Bay Ridge.
That same day, the dead bodies of two migrants, one a child, were found in a river buoy barrier in the Rio Grande. The barriers, infamous for their potential to drown border crossers, had been installed by Gov. Abbott (TX), who is also known for having sent thousands of migrants to New York City.
“I want to secure the border, build the wall, take those big buoys – with the red buoys, and you have the Hunger Games saw underneath them – and put them from the head of the Rio Grande to the mouth. I’m good with that, right? I’m good with that. No problem.”
Vito LaBella, Conservative Party candidate for city council district 43 during the September meeting of the Brooklyn Tea Party
Conservative Party candidate for city council district 43, Vito LaBella, addressed these barriers on September 24, while speaking to the Brooklyn Tea Party at their monthly meeting. LaBella said, “I want to secure the border, build the wall, take those big buoys – with the red buoys, and you have the Hunger Games saw underneath them – and put them from the head of the Rio Grande to the mouth. I’m good with that, right? I’m good with that. No problem.”
Except that is a problem. Not only for those who drown in these Hunger Game contraptions, but for the example it sets for the public when a political figure celebrates such barbaric methods. The challenges we face will not be solved by making the public fear fictitious shelter sites that are not coming or by praising Hunger Games-like policies to stop immigration.
