Staten Island, N.Y. (PIX11)– A reversal in a temporary restraining order, that blocked the city from using a vacant Staten Island school as a migrant shelter, will now allow migrants to be housed at the site.
City officials appealed the temporary restraining order and it was later vacated in appellate court by Judge Carl Landicino. Staten Island residents rallied outside St. John Villa Academy Friday, outraged about the decision.
“Staten Island is not going to stay here and allow this to happen,” said resident Pete Dimiceli. “We’re going to stand up. We’re going to keep marching.”
The decision to house migrants at the former school has seen pushback all week long.
“We don’t know anything about them,” resident Florence Petruzelli said. “I just wish that they were properly vetted and then they would be welcome.
Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis is part of a group of eight elected officials and one resident who sued the city Friday.
“The community is sick and tired of seeing our resources, things that we paid for with our tax dollars, being taken away from us,” said Rep. Malliotakis. “Whether it be parkland, whether it be schools. It’s just wrong.”
A spokesperson for the mayor says the sites they’re finding to handle the influx of migrants are the only options left.
They said they have opened 206 sites, including 15 large-scale humanitarian relief centers, and are constantly searching for new places to provide asylum seekers with the shelter they are asking for.
Congresswoman Malliotakis said this is just the beginning of what she expects to be a very long legal battle. As for that lawsuit challenging the city’s use of the school, the next court date is set for Sep. 7.
