Randall’s Island Migrant Housing Targeted by Soccer Parents, Local Nonprofit

As New York State Supreme Court judge Ericka Edwards affirmed that New York State has a duty to provide shelter to newcomers, a tent complex has popped back up on Randall’s Island that is meant to shelter up to 2,000 people. Some of the new arrivals to the island have reportedly come directly from the line of stranded asylum seekers that formed outside the Roosevelt Hotel in July.

This has led to some locals advocating against the tents, all while rather disingenuously proclaiming that they’re not against the actual migrants themselves. Their stated rationale, or perhaps pretext, involves children.

Essentially, Mayor Eric Adams has found an outspoken critic in the Randall’s Island Park Alliance, which reportedly wrote a letter to Deputy Mayor Meera Joshi stating that “we urge you to select a site that does not mean destroying green fields, turning away young athletes, and flying in the face of the many supporters who have worked for three decades to build this resource–New Yorkers working on behalf of New Yorkers, year after year.”

They further specify that migrant housing will take precedence over soccer permits on fields 82, 83, 84 and 85, which are on the southern end of the park. “While we are empathetic to the humanitarian crisis, we also understand that taking these highly used athletic fields offline is a loss for many NYC schools and leagues,” Randall’s Island Park Alliance’s Board of Trustees co-chairs Nancy Neff and Jonathan May claimed in a statement to the press.

The City notably reported that Department of Consumer and Worker Protection Commissioner Vilda Vera Mayuga joined the ruckus, emailing out a petition opposing the housing to West Side Soccer League (WSSL) parents: “We understand that as a City, we’re dealing with an unprecedented number of arrivals and that we are struggling to meet the needs of these individuals. However, it simply cannot be at the expense of our youth and the NYC government must make responsible decisions.”

In other words, objectors say they support the city welcoming newcomers...only not in their neighborhood (or on their child’s soccer field, no matter how temporarily).

Of course, not every parent is taking a hostile position on the facility. One perturbed father told The City that he reportedly pulled his child from the WSSL after being “disgusted” by the petition’s opposition to the tent complex, and Mayuga herself apologized after the circulated email became public.

Gale Brewer, the District 6 Council Member from the UWS, interestingly plugged into this particular vein of antagonism regarding the migrant housing being built. “Many soccer coaches have contacted me with concerns about lost recreation hours. Manhattan public high schools have very little field space, especially compared to large schools in other boroughs,” she wrote on Twitter.

90,000 asylum seekers have arrived in New York City this year, and Mayor Adams recently blamed the state government for not passing affordable housing laws that he claims would allegedly provide shelter in the long run: “We have repeatedly asked state lawmakers to assist in building more affordable homes, but they have been unable to pass any meaningful legislation.”

His critics have contended that the administration saying they had run out of shelter was a political fallacy and not a reality, as some migrants have also moved into churches or recreation centers in Brooklyn and Queens.

Meanwhile, those who are involved in running the complex on Randall’s Island have touted what they say its benefits will be. “This large-scale humanitarian center for adults—who traveled many harrowing miles before they found a safe, dignified welcome—will provide on-site services that build upon the successful models we’ve established at 13 humanitarian relief sites already and help these asylum seekers complete their journey,” Ted Long of NYC Health + Hospitals said.