Over 200 migrants are reportedly camped up beneath a section of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, creating a temporary mini-city complete with a thriving night market where, according to irate neighbors, asylum seekers sell anything from food to haircuts.
Despite efforts by cops and sanitation workers during the summer to sweep away a dozen or so migrants living in tents beneath the BQE at Park Avenue and Hall Street in Brooklyn’s Clinton Hill, the location is now busier than ever, according to a New York Post story.
For the last several months, migrants have been coming to this area—along with others around the Big Apple—after leaving a refuge at 47 Hall Street, which is a block away. Along a part of the BQE that is littered with abandoned cars, the migrants have made makeshift, open-air houses by stuffing mattresses, tables, and other items in between rows of parked cars.
Many refugees said they had been kicked out of city-run shelters after being there for little more than 30 days and were unable to locate permanent housing.
In an effort to free up space, Mayor Eric Adams has established a 30-day cap — down from the previous 60-day maximum — on how long a single adult migrant may stay in a city-run shelter. The migrants must reapply after meeting their deadlines in order to reenter the system. The drive comes after Hizzoner issued a warning this week that the Big Apple had reached “full capacity,” meaning that migrants will soon be sleeping on the streets.
As of Sunday, according to the most recent City Hall data, less than 20% of migrants who received a vacate notice later reapplied to stay in the shelter system.
