After two fugitives wanted in Florida were captured at the Creedmoor migrant shelter, elected officials reignited calls to close the Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Center (HERRC) due to safety concerns.
At a press conference on Friday afternoon, politicians on the city and state level said that, at the very least, they’d like to see increased security measures such as metal detectors installed and background checks enforced. They expressed anger and concern that neither measures were in place to prevent two migrants who had been on the run for almost a month from bringing a gun into what has been dubbed “tent city.”
The elected officials were joined by community leaders near the Queens Village site hours after hearing the news of the arrests. They said that city officials in charge of operating the shelter had not informed them of the incident before that.
“I’m angry today. I’m angry that the elected officials from the area had to find out about this incident in the newspaper,” said State Assembly Member Edward Braunstein, who represents the Creedmoor campus.
Braunstein added that during walkthroughs of the site when it first opened last year, the local officials were assured by the mayor’s office that new residents would be screened with a background check before moving in. But more recently, the area’s local elected officials learned that shelter operators do not have access to federal and other state criminal records.
The two migrant brothers in their thirties were involved in a near-fatal shootout in Orlando last month, leading Florida police to issue a warrant on Sept. 16. Police sources say the suspects were hiding in the five boroughs before they entered the shelter system and were located by U.S. Marshals.
They were later questioned at the 105th Precinct in Queens Village on Thursday, Oct. 4.
“This emphasizes what we’ve been saying from the beginning. This was never a good site location to have the HERRC tent city,” said Council Member Linda Lee.
The site, which houses 1,000 asylum-seeking men, has faced opposition from the community since it opened. Many believe that the site is inadequate for a shelter, given its residential surroundings and proximity to a school and senior center.
Lee noted that the facility’s presence has reduced the quality of life for existing residents and is straining the local police precincts. Given the area’s limited public transportation options, she argues that it’s also not a good location for the migrants either.
While they said they want the Creedmoor campus to cease housing migrants “as soon as possible,” on Friday, they pushed for metal detectors to be installed until the city takes action. Many other shelters across the city, particularly those that house women and children, already have metal detectors in place.
State Senator Stavisky said she was told the extra security measures hadn’t been installed at this specific location already because the city did not authorize them.
“I thought we were making progress, but who knew there were no metal detectors here,” said Stavisky on Friday. “The arrests at the HERRC Shelter represent a profound failure by City officials on several fronts.”
The two individuals, who hail from Cuba, were wanted for attempted murder. Jaroscar Chavez Silva was charged with two counts of fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon and is set to be arraigned in Queens Criminal Court. His brother, Roshiel Chavez Silva faces no charges in New York but was handed over to federal authorities for extradition to Florida.
It is unclear how long they remained at the Creedmoor site before marshals located them, but officials believe they should never have been able to enter the facility in the first place.
“It shouldn’t be that complicated to check a database to find out if someone has outstanding warrants in other states,” said Braunstein.
Joining the calls for metal detectors, Braunstein added that he wants to see a timeline for when the tents will come down. And when “the numbers come down, which we expect they will,” indicating the number of migrants, he believes Creedmoor should be one of the first sites dismantled.
“Like we said from the beginning, this is not the right place to have 1200 single men with no connection to the community,” added Braunstein.
They called on city officials to assess the situation and install safety measures while communicating with the local elected officials. But amid the ongoing controversies at City Hall, they questioned if it would be possible.
“This is an ongoing situation that we’re finding out more information about, but clearly, there needs to be some assessment in terms of the process and how this even happened in the first place,” said Lee.
