By Michael V. Cusenza
Federal Judge Brian M. Cogan on Monday remanded the case brought by City Councilwoman Joann Ariola (R-Ozone Park) and Assemblywoman Jaime Williams, along with several other elected officials and community leaders, which asked the court to disallow the use of federal park land at Floyd Bennett Field in the Gateway National Recreation Area to house a migrant basecamp, back to State court. Cogan ruled that Mayor Eric Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul failed to show that there was a federal question in the complaints that the plaintiffs brought.
File Photo
“This is a disaster, and cannot stand,” Councilwoman Ariola said on Tuesday.
“We are gratified that the case was sent back to the State court where it belongs,” Ariola said. “We believe that the maneuver to push it up to the federal level was designed from the start to delay this court proceeding, which the City and Gov. Hochul know they are going to lose. We can be heard far more quickly in State Supreme Court, which has already ruled against the City and State on similar complaints in the past.”
Additionally on Monday, the City announced that Floyd Bennett Field will open in the coming weeks to serve families with children seeking asylum in a semi-congregate setting. Privacy dividers with locks will be installed to provide approximately 500 families—instead of single men, which the City had previously announced—with children a place to stay.
“We will fight this tooth and nail—this place is not safe to house asylum seekers, and it violates the very principles of public access that define our national parks,” Ariola said. “Placing anyone in a flood-prone, remote location like Floyd Bennett Field is irresponsible. But placing children there? There are so many problems with this—where will they go to school? How will they get there? How safe and secure are the ‘semi-congregate settings’ that women and children are supposed to share with hundreds of unknown, unvetted men? This is a disaster, and cannot stand.”
