Brooklyn community meeting devolves into screaming match over migrant shelters: ‘It’s unsafe’
A community meeting in Brooklyn devolved into a screaming match Monday evening when concerned residents of the family-friendly Clinton Hill neighborhood clashed with a local councilmember over a massive shelter that houses more than 3,000 adult migrants, video shows.
The confrontation began when councilmember Crystal Hudson, who represents New York City’s District 35, referenced an alleged stabbing that occurred near the migrant shelter at 47 Hall Street.
“There was an incident earlier today – it’s not the first incident, I hope it will be the last – there was a stabbing that was at the park,” Hudson said during the Monday meeting at the Boys and Girls Navy Yard Clubhouse, video footage showed.
The alleged incident took place on Park Avenue between Washington and Hall Streets, just a few steps from the shelter, a spokesperson for Hudson’s office, Alejandro Gonzalez, told The Post.
The shelter opened last summer and made headlines over the winter when it grew to accommodate around 3,000 people, The City reported at the time.
The victim was treated at the scene, Gonzalez added.
It was not clear if any migrants were involved and the NYPD could not confirm initial reports of the stabbing Tuesday.
Still, Hudson’s comments prompted several angry community members to stand up and start shouting at Hudson while shaking noisy rattles.
“You are avoiding this issue,” one man cried into a microphone, referring to the growing tensions over the Clinton Hill migrants shelter.
“Is there a universe where the city can safely house 3,200 single men together?” he demanded.
Others in the crowd could be heard yelling out “It can’t!” while the man with the microphone shook his finger at Hudson and insisted, “It is unsafe! It is unsafe!”
Meanwhile, a second shelter in nearby Ryerson Street opened in April, prompting area residents to complain about the disruption the influx imposed on them and their families, the BK Reader said.
A 22-year-old migrant was stabbed when a fight broke out outside the Hall Street shelter last week.
During the raucous Monday meeting, Council Member Hudson – who was flanked by City Speaker Adrienne Adams and Comptroller Brad Lander – encouraged furious residents to “save (their) ire for the mayor.”
She also went head-to-head with the loud detractors who continued to stand up and disrupt the meeting – eventually gesturing in their direction and yelling for them to “sit down.”
“We have literally said exactly what you just said….I understand the frustration. I get it….But my office has done everything we can,” Hudson said, according to reporter Arya Sundaram.
“Our community has cared and will continue to care for our asylum-seeking neighbors,” Gonzalez added in a statement to The Post.
“We’ve seen people come together to routinely provide material support for migrants. However, individual generosity doesn’t preclude the government’s need to steer collective action, and so far the mayor’s office has failed in that regard,” he added.
“There is a need for the city to provide additional resources to address the emerging challenges facing new and longtime residents alike as well as sharing a vision for a long-term strategy that we can all work toward across the five boroughs.”
Mayor Eric Adams has been increasingly under fire over his approach to the migrant crisis – particularly after an official testified that only about 2,000 migrants were successfully connected with jobs through the Adams’ administration’s Workforce1 program.
Despite concerns over violence connected with the influx of new arrivals, crime in the Clinton Hill area is trending downwards, a source with Hudson’s office insisted to The Post.
