More than 200 angry New Yorkers gathered outside a former Staten Island nursing home on Sunday to protest the city’s proposal to convert the shuttered residences into an emergency shelter to house migrants.
The protest, held outside the former Island Shores Senior Residences in Midland Beach, was organized by Guardian Angels founder and one-time mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa, who was among the roughly one dozen demonstrators who were subsequently arrested by NYPD officers for blocking traffic, according to the New York Post.
(Video: YouTube)
It was the second time Sliwa was hooked up for migrant-related incidents in less than a week — an outcome Silwa clearly anticipated.
In a demonstration flyer, Sliwa warned participants, “Arrests at the location are expected.”
“When I finish, we are gonna block this street,” the Guardian archangel informed the crowd. “You line up behind me … and the others who know what civil disobedience is. Let’s await the instructions of the cops.”
“We occupy this facility and dare them to arrest [us],” Sliwa stated. “We don’t want illegal aliens.”
Flying at the protest was a banner depicting New York City Mayor Eric Adams holding the decapitated head of the Statue of Liberty and boasting, “I hate NY.”
Banner at the protest with Eric Adams holding a decapitated head of The Statue of Liberty and “I hate NY” written on his shirt. pic.twitter.com/8eydoD9jQn
— LUKE2FREEDOM (@L2FTV) August 20, 2023
According to The Post, the idea of converting the former nursing home into a migrant shelter was first floated last year, “when the 288-bed facility was on the verge of being sold.”
“The sale meant that 53 senior citizens would have to be relocated from the assisted living facility — and local pols raised fears that the site was being eyed for conversion to a migrant shelter,” the Staten Island Advance reported earlier this month.
City Councilman David Carr (R-Mid-Island), Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella, and other elected officials fired off a letter to Mayor Adams criticizing the proposal.
“This site was an important cornerstone in our senior care system and we have been advocating to the owner of the site to sell to an entity with a similar end-use as a senior retirement facility,” the letter read. “With several potential buyers interested in providing some type of long-term care to Staten Islanders, this migrant shelter sets back Staten Islanders’ senior health care options.”
More arrests made outside Senior Assisted Living Center in NYC.
Protesters are blocking streets against Mayor Eric Adams and migrants being housed there before Senior Citizens. pic.twitter.com/PlpZ3vuJGV
— Rebecca Brannon (@RebsBrannon) August 20, 2023
On Sunday, protestors chanted, “Close the border!”
Ray Thaisz, 66, was among the crowd.
“Don’t call them immigrants. Call them ‘illegals,'” he told The Post. “I don’t mind people coming here, but they’re coming here illegally, and then we have to support them.”
Retired nurse Claire O’Toole, 64, said she didn’t want the migrants housed in her neighborhood.
“I have four grandchildren,” she said. “I don’t want this by my house. Why would I want that worry? They want to put 800 men here, but we have no idea who they are, period. Are they rapists? Are they murderers? Are they vaccinated? Do they speak English?”
During his speech, Sliwa noted that many “moderate Democrats” protested a 1,000-bed migrant tent shelter in Queens, located on the grounds of the former Creedmoor Psychiatric Center.
“You have sided with illegal aliens!”
Curtis Sliwa blasts Mayor Eric Adams in a speech during a protest against a migrant facility in Staten Island. pic.twitter.com/q1dfIJMnXz
— LUKE2FREEDOM (@L2FTV) August 21, 2023
“Four thousand demonstrators showed up,” Sliwa said. “And I can tell you, most of them were moderate Democrats who had co-ops, condos, homes, and they said, ‘No more! No more! You’re not destroying our neighborhood!'”
He blasted Adams for being “away for the whole week” and leaving New Yorkers with this “mess.”
“I’m taking over in his absence,” Sliwa stated.
He accused Adams of forsaking the people who elected him.
“You have forsaken us, the Americans, and you have sided with illegal aliens,” he said.
Writers and editors can be contacted at [email protected] with feedback, tips, or corrections.
Melissa Fine is the former executive editor of Casino Player, Strictly Slots, and Poker
Digest magazines. She is a UCLA graduate, news junkie, and dedicated Stargate SG-
1 fan. Melissa currently lives with her dog and two cats in a tiny town in the Sierra
Nevada foothills.
Comment
We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.