Following a push from several elected officials, metal detectors were installed at the Creedmoor migrant shelter in recent weeks.
The action was prompted by an incident where two fugitives on the run from Florida, one with a gun, were able to enter the facility, which is called a Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Center (HERRC). The structure has beds for up to 1,200 single men.
The area’s representatives only learned about the incident through a news outlet days after it happened. This prompted them to schedule a last-minute press conference on Oct. 4 to slam city officials for failing to keep them in the loop and call for metal detectors to be installed in hopes of preventing weapons from being brought in.
“We didn’t get a phone call from the city. We didn’t get a phone call from anyone from the HERRC letting us know about this incident. And I think this emphasizes what we’ve been saying from the beginning. This was never a good site location to have the tent city,” said City Council Member Linda Lee, who organized the gathering near the facility.
The large-scale tent shelter is in the now-shuttered Creedmoor Psychiatric Center parking lot. However, the broader state-owned campus is home to active facilities such as the SNAP Senior Center and near a school and playground.
Two Cuban migrants had checked into the Queens Village facility after arriving in NYC on a bus. They were not there for long before U.S. Marshalls tracked them down for their involvement in a near-fatal shooting in Orlando in September.
Jaroscar Chavez Silva, 36, now faces fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon. But, Roshiel Chavez Silva, his 30-year-old brother, was sent back to Florida without charges in New York.
After they were caught, both were brought to the 105th precinct for questioning. Council Member Lee later said that the shelter’s presence had put a strain on local police officers.
“Can we put other safety protocols and measures in here to think through how this is going to keep the neighbors safe, as well as the other folks that are inside on the property safe,” questioned Lee.
Officials and many local residents have consistently argued that the site should never have been opened in the neighborhood for various reasons. Given its residential makeup, the area lacks robust public transportation and is not near resources available for new arrivals.
Following the removal of the fugitives from the facility, the officials wanted to ensure that an incident like that would not happen again. They were also surprised to learn that metal detectors were absent in the first place.
Senator Stavisky shared that she recently learned the city had not initially authorized metal detectors at this site. “Who knew there were no metal detectors here?”
While Senator Stavisky did not comment after the installation, her office confirmed to QNS that metal detectors were installed at Creedmoor around Oct. 11.
The shelter first welcomed migrants on Aug. 15, 2023.
