Migration to NYC is nothing new. In the 1800’s, early 1900’s and during the wars in Europe, people fled here for a multitude of reasons. We just handled it better. The immigrants came to New York then, just as they are now.
It’s been nearly two years since this new migrant crisis started. Just like it was in the early 1900’s and Ellis Island, new people are arriving daily, if not weekly.
Here’s the difference; we had a plan.
Similar to other times when migrants came here, many people are able to live with relatives. Although it creates a housing problem in many neighborhoods where people are living in spaces meant for far less people, there are still many migrants who are in our migrant housing programs for housing.
It’s living in shelters. It’s living on Randall’s Island, Floyd Bennett Field, at the Roosevelt Hotel and we know there are dozens of other shelters.
The perfect storm has arrived. In perfect storm situations Mother Nature takes over and an inertia is created that can’t really be stopped.
The perfect storm in the migrant crisis results in migrant-on-migrant violence, a lack of regard for police – leading an even more dangerous lack of respect for anyone.
They can’t work, they have little to do but hang out in public spaces, just watching, wondering and waiting. And since it’s been nearly two years it has reached a perfect storm where migrant gangs grow and a crime wave persists.
While, for the last year or so, we have been worrying about retail stores closing because criminals know they can’t be prosecuted, the migrant community has now realized that ‘thuggary’ might be the only way to survive at the moment.
We don’t entirely blame bail reform. We can’t entirely lame the mayor for calling migrants here. We remember when he exclaimed, “We’ll take em.”
We can’t entirely blame the legislature for hot figuring out a way they can get work visas. It’s everything … all at once.
