Staten Island pols: Vacant public schools not a solution for migrant housing

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — It appears part of a new strategy from Mayor Eric Adams’ administration to deal with the large influx of migrants coming into New York City is to use vacant Department of Education properties as temporary housing.

The former Richard H. Hungerford School on Tompkins Avenue in Clifton saw its first wave of migrant arrivals Sunday evening as the city searches for options to house new arrivals in the five boroughs. But local elected officials say vacant public school buildings are not a solution for migrants housing.

City officials have set up at least four emergency shelters in Staten Island hotels to help house the migrants, many who have come seeking asylum.

“The sites currently being used or even considered for future use to house asylum seekers are not sustainable in the long-term for both these migrant populations and the communities that they are being placed in,” State Sen. Jessica Scarcella-Spanton, who represents the district where the former Hungerford site is, said. “It is critical that the federal government step up to address this crisis.”

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