Furious Harlem residents forced New York Mayor Eric Adams to make a humiliating U-turn on his plans to house immigrants in an empty luxury apartment building after they saw bunk beds being quietly handed over to them.
The WA condo on 130th Street promised buyers an indoor pool, marble bathrooms and a rooftop jogging track before the project was put on ice in a neighborhood with a chronic housing shortage.
Schools, nursing homes and a number of landmark hotels have been requisitioned to house many of the 170,000 migrants who have arrived in the city since spring 2022.
But residents of the condominium on Adam Clayton Powell Jr Boulevard were determined that it would not go down the same path.
“We were trying to find out what was going on and we didn’t get any answers to our questions,” said neighbor Regina Smith. C.B.S..
New York Mayor Eric Adams promised angry residents that the long-vacant building would not be used to house immigrants or asylum seekers.
Tiffany Fulton said the neighborhood already had enough residents looking for housing.
The WA condo on 130th Street promised buyers an indoor pool, marble bathrooms and a rooftop jogging track.
The mayor faced an angry reception when he agreed to meet with residents at an emergency meeting Thursday night.
‘You are the mayor. We don’t want to hear excuses,’ one told him.
“No, I don’t agree with it becoming a sanctuary for asylum seekers knowing that we have people here who need that space,” said Tiffany Fulton of Silent Voices United.
“We should have been informed that I am looking for answers.”
The 35-apartment development was marketed as a luxury doorman building with granite countertops in the kitchens, a state-of-the-art gym and marble bathrooms.
But it has been empty for over a decade, briefly appearing as a location in a 2021 episode of Law & Order SVU when it served as the exterior of the ‘Camino Family Center.’
“WA Condominiums is one of the newest condominiums in the historic Central Harlem neighborhood,” the developer’s website promises.
“This modern luxury building is surrounded by the jazz clubs, theaters and ethnic cuisine for which the area is known.”
But now it’s also known for the area’s migrant shelters in a city that plans to spend $12 billion over the next three years to handle the influx.
Potential buyers were tempted with a marble-covered rooftop pool.
Panoramic views of the Manhattan skyline were part of the package.
But the building sat empty for more than a decade until neighbors saw delivery vans arriving.
Inside were boxes of rudimentary furniture, including a stack of twin bunk beds.
New York has seen 170,000 immigrants arrive in the city since spring 2022
Neighbors of the condo on Adam Clayton Powell Jr Boulevard decided it should be used to house local people rather than newcomers.
Thousands of migrants continue to arrive each week after Republican governors bused them out from the southern border, prompting Adams to warn that the crisis will “destroy” New York.
In December, the Democrat announced a $110.5 billion budget, saying cuts were necessary across all departments after the city spent $1.45 billion in fiscal 2023 on the migrant crisis.
The budget cuts would cause NYPD officers to be reduced by a fifth, or 13.5 percent, by postponing the academy’s next five classes, leaving officers below 30,000, compared to to 36,000.
Tensions have escalated further since two New York police officers were brutally beaten by a mob of immigrants who attacked them in Times Square on January 27.
A total of eight immigrants have been charged since the attack and police are still searching for at least eight other suspects who they believe were involved in the melee.
“We have too many homeless shelters in this community,” Smith said.
‘We have a shortage of affordable housing and the price is excluding us from the community.
“The lack of respect is absolutely atrocious.”
“There was no discussion or conversation about this plan with the community,” said Marquis Harrison of the CB 10 community group.
“There is also a need for housing for community members.”
The anger appeared to result in a rare victory for residents, as they won a promise that immigrants would not be among the new arrivals.
“There will be no immigrants or asylum seekers on that property,” Adams promised them.
“I told the team, ‘Find out what’s going on here.’
‘We will not move people to a new building when there are long-term needs in a community. ‘That’s not gonna happen.’
Tensions in the city have been high since two New York police officers were brutally beaten by a mob of immigrants who attacked them in Times Square on January 27.
The city has now promised to use the site to provide “high-quality transitional housing for long-term New York City families with homeless children.”
A spokesperson for the New York City Department of Social Services said their plans were now for the building to provide “high-quality transitional housing for long-term New York families with homeless children.”
“Despite the developer’s initial plans for market-rate condominiums, development had stalled and this building, left vacant indefinitely, would not have moved forward as luxury housing,” the spokesperson added in a statement.
‘We will work with an experienced nonprofit provider to help these families stabilize their lives and ultimately move into permanent housing.
“As we always have, we will continue to maintain open lines of communication and work closely with the community every step of the way to ensure we are working collaboratively to provide critical services to our neighbors in need.”