Migrant Shelter on Staten Island Closed Over Fire Code Violations

Newly arrived illegal immigrants wait in a holding area at the Port Authority bus terminal before being sent off to area shelters and hotels in New York City, on May 15, 2023. Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Migrants have been removed from the shelter at the former St. John Villa Academy Catholic School on Staten Island after the New York City Fire Department (FDNY) found the location to have multiple fire code violations.

Fire officials reportedly found several safety issues at the former school, including no fire alarm or sprinkler systems, among other concerns that made the building a potential fire hazard.

In an Oct. 16 post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, state Assemblyman Sam Pirozzolo said the FDNY was on the scene ensuring the shelter was vacated.

“I am glad that these shelters are finally being shuttered and the residents of these communities can return to normalcy,” Mr. Pirozzolo said.

“We all knew there were safety concerns, and the placement of migrants at these sites was always improper.”

Mr. Pirozzolo revealed 179 people had been removed from the site after arriving last month. They are reportedly being taken to the Roosevelt Hotel in Manhattan, which has been transformed into a processing center for migrants.

Illegal immigrants sleep outside the Roosevelt Hotel as they wait for placement at the hotel in New York on Aug. 1, 2023. Timothy Clary/AFP via Getty Images

A second shelter in the former Richard H. Hungerford School near Tompkins Avenue had been vacated as well after concerns were raised about asbestos at the site.

Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-N.Y.) confirmed the makeshift St. John Villa shelter was closed in an Oct. 16 statement on X, pointing to safety concerns and a lawsuit as reasons for the closure.

“The FDNY has formally issued a vacate order for the St. John Villa Academy migrant shelter on Staten Island,” Ms. Malliotakis said.

“Not only are there safety concerns, but we won a lawsuit saying this site is unconstitutional. Right to shelter is for New York’s citizens ONLY,” she added.

Locals Outraged Over Migrant Shelter Location

Using the closed-down St. John’s Villa to house migrants outraged locals because they say there was no consultation, the location is near a still operating school, and there is an extra strain and inconvenience heaped on the community.

It eventually led to repeated protests and even legal action that caused a judge to order the migrants to be relocated and the shelter closed.

Ms. Malliotakis revealed in an Aug. 25 X post she was among a group of Republican officials who filed a lawsuit over the St. John’s Villa shelter over concerns the site was located near an all-girls school.

Staten Island judge Wayne Ozzi reportedly issued a restraining order and vacate order to prevent immigrants from moving into St. John’s Villa.

Member of the Congressional Hispanic Conference (CHC) Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-N.Y.) speaks during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Feb. 1, 2023. Alex Wong/Getty Images

However, another judge later overturned the ruling obtained by local officials on appeal by New York City Mayor Eric Adams’s administration.

Judge Ozzi later issued a Sept. 26 preliminary injunction to block the city from using the St. John Villa as a migrant shelter.

However, it needed a subsequent order by fire inspectors to close the shelter, which led to the Oct. 16 removal of the migrants.

The Epoch Times contacted the office of Mayor Adams, and the FDNY for comment but didn’t hear back by the time of publication.

New York’s Ongoing Migrant Crisis

Vocal critics of the shelters, Mr. Pirozzolo and Ms. Malliotakis were among a group of lawmakers who opposed using state-owned property for migrant shelters.

Both signed an Aug. 26 letter to New York Governor Kathleen Hochul, stating they “do not support using any state-owned property for the housing of migrants.”

The stance has led to some groups, like La Colmena, a Staten Island non-profit organization working with immigrant workers and their families, condemning officials for trying to build “hate against immigrants & our officers.”  

New York City has become a receiving point for tens of thousands of migrants waiting on authorities to decide whether they can remain in the United States or be deported.

The influx is partly thanks to the “right to shelter,” a 1981 legal mandate unique to New York that requires the city to provide temporary housing to homeless individuals.

The 1981 decree popularly known as the “right to shelter” was instituted after Robert Callahan, a cook struggling with housing insecurity, sued the city over his living conditions.

Mr. Adams’s administration has attempted to suspend the mandate, because the city is struggling to fulfill the obligation after more than 100,000 migrants have arrived in New York from the southern border in the past 18 months.

Immigrant families with children residing in New York City’s shelters will only be allowed to stay for 60 days under a new measure announced by Mr. Adams on Oct. 16.

In March, Mr. Adams’s administration released “The Road Forward: A Blueprint to Address New York City’s Response to the Asylum Seeker Crisis;” in it, he called for “national action in the face of a global humanitarian crisis.”

“While our city may be the face of the asylum seeker crisis, it is not a crisis we can solve on our own. A comprehensive response from all levels of government – especially from our state and federal partners – is needed,” Mr. Adams said in the blueprints foreword.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams speaks during the 2023 Concordia Annual Summit at Sheraton New York in New York City on Sept. 18, 2023. Riccardo Savi/Getty Images for Concordia Summit

Democrats in New York have called for the Biden administration to grant work authorization to illegal immigrants and asylum seekers in the city, and more federal funding.

House Democrats were met with protests in New York during a Sept. 16 visit. They held a press conference to discuss the strain sheltering migrants and asylum applicants has put on the city’s resources.

At the time, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), whose district includes parts of the Bronx and Queens, called for new policies to grant work authorization for migrants arriving in the United States.

She and other New York Democrats argued allowing migrants to work while they await asylum decisions would ease the burden New York faces to house them.

“The faster that folks can access the work that they are asking for, legally, the better we can solve this problem,” Ms. Ocasio-Cortez said.

Current immigration laws prohibit employers from hiring illegal immigrants. Asylum seekers are forbidden (pdf) from obtaining work until at least 180 days after submitting their asylum application.

Ms. Malliotakis criticized the solution her Democrat counterparts were asking for, saying relaxed work authorization rules are a “non-starter.”

Ms. Malliotakis also argued that approving more federal funding for New York without doing more to secure borders would exacerbate the flow of immigrants and asylum seekers coming to the city for shelter and assistance.