Eric Adams is building a tent city in the Bronx and residents are not happy

AP Photo/Mary Altaffer

NYC Mayor Eric Adams is building a tent city in the Bronx to house about 1,000 illegal migrants who have arrived in the city from Texas. Adams is calling them “Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Centers.” One is being set up on Orchard Beach for adults. A second location for families has not been announced yet.

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Local residents are not happy with the mayor’s decision. There is a strong vibe of NIMBY here – not in my back yard.

Residents of the Orchard Beach area are far from happy with the developments. Sheila Para, 55, a retired teacher who lives 10 minutes from the neighborhood, told DailyMail.com: ‘Oh no! This is my backyard. It’s going to be a hot mess… Just a hot mess. I am not happy.’

Para, who was enjoying the fall sunshine when she spoke to DailyMail.com Friday, went on: ‘I can’t even imagine that happening. I come here at least a few times a week. It’s my serenity. I like the quietness. It is clean. Now if they are going to be putting up these makeshift tents here it is not going to be the same. It is going to be horrible. I didn’t know that. I am not for it at all.’

The former teacher also expressed concern for the prospect of the criminal element coming to the area saying she was ‘concerned’ for her family’s safety.

‘I don’t want any criminals coming over here. They are going to need to do background checks,’ she said.

Taking aim at Adams, Para said he was a ‘hypocrite’ and called out the Brooklyn-based politician for not housing migrants in his own neighborhood.

‘Of course Mayor Adams doesn’t put the migrants in his neighborhood or his family’s neighborhood . . . anywhere else but his area,’ she said.

Speaking about the border crisis, Para said: ‘I feel so hard people are suffering at the border and I pray for them but I don’t want them coming here. Oh no!’

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Who can blame her? Imagine a tent city – tents the size of football fields – going up in your neighborhood. It’s going to lower property values and increase crime in the area. Para is right to be concerned about criminal elements. DHS has an intel report that confirms that Venezuela is emptying out its prisons and sending the criminals to the southern border.

A pastor spoke out about the lack of planning coming from the mayor. He wants to know what the plan is and said the local residents have a right to know what is going on in their community.

A pastor and social worker who regularly rides his electric bike in Orchard Beach, Robert Cole, 62, said of the migrants being housed in the area: ‘Part of me is concerned about the unknown. What is your plan of action? Is it just putting thousands of people in a parking lot?’

He added: ‘Let the people know. I think they have a right to know. My biggest concern is I haven’t heard a plan. Are the migrants going to just roam up and down the beach here. They just can’t stay in their makeshift tents all day. I am sure some property owners are concerned. Will they go onto their property?’

Cole went on: ‘How is this going to impact the environment? Thousands of people with nowhere to live. I wish the government on a whole would come together and develop a plan so people can know what is happening and not fly on the seat of their plans that seems to be happening with Mayor Adams right now.’

The pastor continued: ‘‘The Bronx has very little space. We have Van Cortland Park but there is no place like Orchard Beach. It is a place we come to relax and with these thousands of migrants coming here it is unfair to the people who utilize the park and live here and it is not fair for them not to know what is going on.’

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The centers will provide shelter, food, medical care, and case work services. The mayor also said that the city will provide transportation to relatives’ homes or connection to the city’s shelter system. Winter is coming. Does the mayor plan to house migrants in tents in a parking lot during the cold weather?

Mayor Adams has railed against Governor Abbott for sending migrant buses to New York. He talks big against Abbott, tossing around adjectives like “un-American” and “inhumane” yet when he was invited to speak at the Texas Tribune Festival in Austin last weekend, he sent a pre-recorded video. It’s as though if he came to Texas, some of us might expect him to go on down to the border and see for himself what is going on, right? He can talk big on a video against Abbott but isn’t bold enough to show up in person.

Adams claims that his office has reached out to the governor and asked for cooperation in coordination of the migrant buses.

“Our team reached out and … communicated with his team and stated, ‘Can you let us know so we can coordinate the effort?’ They refused to let us know, they continued to send the buses,” Adams said during a pre-recorded interview for the Festival. “It’s clear that Gov. Abbott is attempting to make this into a political prop using people who are seeking to live the American dream as the prop for him, and it’s just really unfortunate. It’s inhumane, it’s un-American and it’s unethical.”

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Abbott’s spokesperson said that is malarkey. She reminded the mayor that Governor Abbott’s invitation to tour the border is still open.

Abbott’s office previously told outlets that the mayors of Democratic cities had not contacted his office about the migrant buses. On Friday, a spokesperson for Abbott again said Adams had not made contact with the governor’s office.

“Mayor Adams and his staff have at no point made any effort to reach out to Governor Abbott or his office. Instead of spreading false claims of contacting our office and complaining about a few thousand migrants being bused to his sanctuary city, Mayor Adams should contact the person who created this border crisis to step up and do his job—President Biden,” Renae Eze, an Abbott spokesperson, said in a statement. “Governor Abbott’s invitation is still open for Mayor Adams to visit the border and see the Biden-made crisis firsthand.”

Hey, you know who lives in Austin? Governor Abbott. If Mayor Adams had been bold enough to come to Austin and speak at TribFest in person, he could have probably arranged a time to meet with the governor. However, Adams isn’t serious in his claim to want to work with the governor. He just wants to name-call and act like New York City can’t handle the incoming migrants. He should have thought about that before boasting about the city being a sanctuary city and all are welcome.

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