More NYC migrants arrive in HV; Sullivan emergency; Yonkers councilman urges lawsuit

New York City has sent additional busloads of immigrants to be housed in the Hudson Valley with 80 people being transported to Sullivan County today. The city arranged for them to be housed at the Knights Inn located in Liberty, New York.

As of 1 p.m. May 18, a State of Emergency went into effect in Sullivan. County Manager Joshua Potosek issued the declaration, which says that there is a severe housing crisis and the county has only limited ability to provide housing. It says that people being sent to Sullivan from New York City for housing create a threat o public health and public safety. The State of Emergency initially is in effect for 30 days.

According to the chairman of the Sullivan County Legislature, Robert A. Doherty, the county received less than 24-hour notice that the immigrants would be coming.

“The way the city, New York state and the federal government are approaching this issue is reckless and unsustainable, as many county leaders have said across the state,” Doherty said. “In Sullivan”™s case, we fear that this will displace a number of our otherwise-homeless residents, who we house in this and other lodging establishments.”

Doherty said that the county needed to use whatever rights and remedies it has under law to oppose what New York City is doing. He described it as a “forced approach to a problem” that the city, state and federal governments have had years to handle.

“By this action, they are unfairly and illegally making their problem our problem,” Doherty said.

In Yonkers today, Anthony Merante, a member of the City Council who has declared his candidacy for mayor, said Yonkers should seek a court injunction to block New York City from sending additional immigrants to Yonkers. Merante noted that Orange County has received a Temporary Restraining Order that stops New York from sending it additional immigrants. The 186 immigrants already at hotels in Orange are allowed to remain there.

Merante accused New York City Mayor Eric Adams of “not being straight with Yonkers.” He said Adams has not provided details of how many immigrants he wants to place in Yonkers and has not said for how long they’d need to stay.

“Adams got 1 billion dollars from the state to deal with this crisis, but he won”™t voluntarily share any of that with Yonkers,” Merante said.