Immigrants Begin Arriving at Former NYPD Academy in Gramercy Park
Up to hundreds of newly arrived immigrants could be housed at the former police academy on E. 20th St., as wave of new asylum seekers from Texas begins arriving. The NYPD confirmed only that it made “one” of its facilities available to deal with the current “emergency.”
| 08 May 2023 | 11:10
Bus dropping off migrants on Friday, May 5th at the former NYPD Academy on E. 20th St. Photo: Keith J. Kelly
Immigrants begin arriving at former NYPD Academy on Friday May 5 and men and women were spotted, although Straus News did not see any children on the scene. Photo: Keith J. Kelly
Cots are visible in the background at the former NYPD Academy that is now converting the first floor gym into emergency housing for newly arrived immigrants as city deals with a new wave of asylum seekers being bused in from Texas. Photo: Keith J. Kelly
Immigrants began getting dropped off at temporary housing being set up in the first floor gym of the former NYPD Academy on E. 20th Street, as the city deals with new wave of asylum seekers being bused in from Texas.
Straus News saw one busload of immigrants being dropped off Friday, May 5th around 9 PM. A small number of asylum-seeking immigrants had begun arriving Thursday May 4th, one source said.
The National Guard had helped set up the cots and other amenities on the massive first floor gym in the Academy, one insider said.
Details are scarce, with the NYPD only acknowledging that it made “one” facility available to the city--without acknowledging that the facility was the former Police Academy in the Gramercy Park area.
“The department made available limited space within one of its facilities for a short period to assist the city in dealing with this emergency,” a spokesperson for the NYPD confirmed. “As this is a police facility, we are taking all necessary steps to ensure security at the location.”
Men and women were spotted checking into the facility. The Police Academy moved out in around 2015 when the new academy in College Point, Queens opened on a 30 acre site.
For a while, Community Board Six had floated the idea of converting the former academy into a school, since it already contained classrooms, a library, a locker room, a gym whose floor is nearly equal in length to the court at Madison Square Garden--and even a swimming pool. Insiders said the pool has been drained and not in use for a number of years.
The rumblings to convert the academy into a public school faded once the NYPD decided to keep the facility to use it as a candidate assessment facility. The NYPD is continuing to use the facility even as it braces for more immigrants to arrive in the days ahead.
“It’s going to be a s*** show,” grumbled one police officer on duty. “We’re understaffed as it is.”
Calls to Mayor Eric Adams office to find out how long and how many immigrants will be housed there were not returned by presstime. Straus News saw both men and women being checked into the gym, which seemed to have rows of cots set up. No children were seen, however.