NYC backs off plan to house migrants in school gym — for now
The city is so desperate to find housing for its flood of migrants that it nearly moved some families into the gym of a Brooklyn elementary school, then abruptly reversed course Friday when outcry erupted.
The principal at PS 188 on Coney Island had alerted parents in a letter Friday that the school was chosen as one of the “emergency, temporary sites to house individuals and families who are seeking asylum” in the Big Apple, according to the missive obtained by The Post.
Starting Thursday night, “several families will be utilizing the stand-alone gym at your school on a short-term basis,” Principal Leslie King wrote.
More families were expected to be sent to the gym in the next few days, too, said local City Councilman Ari Kagan — a situation that created an uproar.
The local school-district community board issued a blistering statement saying it “was given no advance notice of this action’’ — and was still in the dark, with many crucial questions lingering.
“The [Community Board] 13 office staff has been struggling all day to get the most basic information from various agencies regarding how many people will be housed there, for what length of time, whether the individuals have been screened for communicable diseases, what measures are in place to provide services, etc.,’’ the letter said.
Kagan noted earlier in the day — before the Adams administration pulled back — that insiders at City Hall admitted to him they were jittery about what public reaction to the move would be.
“This is why they didn’t notify people, because they knew the community would be against it,” Kagan said at the time.
The pol told The Post on Friday evening that he has since been told no migrants ever made it to the school — although they still could be sent there.
“It’s not going to happen today. But it’s not 100% off the table, he said.
A source close to the controversy said it appeared that outcry over the move doomed it, at least for now.
“Judging from comments on social media and by parents, clearly the community was against it,” the source said.
A City Hall rep said in a statement to The Post on Friday, “As we’ve been saying for months, we are in the midst of a humanitarian crisis, having opened more than 130 emergency sites and eight large-scale humanitarian relief centers to serve over 65,000 asylum seekers.
“We received more than 4,200 asylum seekers this past week alone and continue to receive hundreds of asylum seekers every day. We are opening emergency shelters and respite centers daily, but are out of space and are out of space. We will continue to communicate with local elected officials as we open more emergency sites.”
