Brooklyn high school students were forced to study remotely Wednesday when nearly 2,000 migrants using their gym as a storm shelter were sent back to a nearby tent city.
Concerns that heavy rain and high winds would topple the large immigrant tent at Floyd Bennett Field led to the evacuation Tuesday night — even though immigrants had already been removed from James Madison High School by 4:30 a.m. Wednesday.
Despite their early exit, which a source described to The Post as “insanity,” the school remained on lockdown Wednesday at the principal’s request, City Hall said.
The number of workers required to transport 1,900 asylum seekers smoothly made the chaos feel “like a concert,” the source added.
A photo shared on social media platform X by Mayor Eric Adams appears to show immigrant families, including children, sleeping on the floor of a school gymnasium.
A photo shared on X by the mayor appears to show migrants sleeping on the floor of a school gymnasium. X/@NYCMayor
“As of 0427 Hours, the temporary evacuation of our Floyd Bennett Field HERRC guests to James Madison High School has been completed and all guests are safely back at Floyd Bennett Field HERRC,” Office of Emergency Management write along with the photo.
The migrants – who were evacuated to the school around 5pm on Tuesday as a precaution against the storm – have been met with fierce backlash from some in the neighbourhood. As a result, Assemblyman Michael Novakhov (R-Brooklyn) called for a rally Wednesday morning outside the high school to protest the disruption of student education.
Several parents watched over the school on Tuesday as buses dropped off migrants, with one angry mother shouting, “How do you feel? Does it feel good?”
The migrants were taken to school on Tuesday at 5pm and left at 4:30am on Wednesday. Christopher Sadowski
“How do you feel about throwing all the kids out of school tomorrow? Does it feel good? I hope you feel well. I hope you sleep well tonight!” the mother, identified only as Michelle, shouted at the bus.
A local man said, “How do you feel about stealing American tax dollars?”
The school had announced online earlier in the day that classes would be held remotely Wednesday because of “the activation of James Madison High School as a temporary overnight rest center” for immigrants.
A rally was being held Wednesday morning at the school to protest the students’ education being disrupted by the temporary shelter. Getty Images
It’s not the first time extreme weather has been an issue for the 2,000-bed tent facility, which suffered damage last month when heavy rain and strong, 55-mph winds shook loose metal bolts and hinges from the ceiling.
The violent storm on Dec. 18 dropped up to 4 inches of rain in the region and left migrants in tents fearing for their lives, they told The Post at the time.
City officials said they have an evacuation plan if necessary, but said no flooding was reported during the heavy rains in December. They also said they were not informed about the missing bolts and hinges.
Nearly 70,000 immigrants are in the city’s care. Gregory P. Mango
The first immigrants moved into the abandoned Brooklyn airport in November after Gov. Kathy Hochul negotiated with the White House for access to the site to erect a tent city.
Nearly 70,000 of the 162,000 immigrants who have arrived in the Big Apple since spring 2022 remain in the city’s care.
The city also has migrant tents on Randall’s Island in Manhattan and at the former Creedmore Psychiatric Center in Queens, but officials said Tuesday that those sites are less vulnerable to extreme weather.
Adams also said that while the tents at the other two sites were “anchored” to the ground, the one at Floyd Bennett Field was only held up by “heavy rocks.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
