By New York Post (U.S.) | Created at 2025-01-11 23:42:40 | Updated at 2025-01-12 01:59:08
2 hours ago
Mayor Eric Adams on Saturday marked the final chapter of the infamous migrant tent city at Brooklyn’s Floyd Bennett Field — and apologized to New Yorkers for the massive shelter placed in their backyards.
“I just want to personally say sorry . . . because this is something that none of us wanted. The federal government did not do its job, and New Yorkers had to do it for them,” Adams told reporters in front of giant, deserted tents as they were being broken down by work crews.
“It was extremely challenging to watch,” Adams continued, calling the 2,000-bed facility on federal parkland an “inconvenience.”
The tents at Floyd Bennett Field opened their flaps to migrants starting in November 2023. The one-time federal airfield was one of scores of locations throughout the five boroughs converted into shelters to accommodate over 200,000 asylum-seekers who have flooded into the Big Apple since 2022.
“We should use this as a teaching moment. No city should have to handle a national problem such as immigration,” Adams said.
Assemblywoman Jaime Williams, whose district encompasses the shelter site, was less forgiving, blasting Adams as “shameless” for not closing the facility sooner.
Adams said he looked forward to restoring the outdoor space to “a great park for families to come.”
