NYC's Migrant Crisis: Dozens of People Found in Basement Home

By Ashna Balroop 

On Monday, February 26th, dozens of migrants were found in the basement of a furniture shop on Liberty Avenue in South Richmond Hill. This furniture shop, owned by Ebou Sarr, was housing 74 adult men from West Africa. 

New York City inspectors found more than 40 beds inside the store and placed 40 men in a shelter in the Bronx. The shop owner, however, said there was more than that staying there. He counted 74. When asked why he would house all these men, Sarr said that he felt bad for them and that they were all hardworking people. 

Sarr insisted that his shelter was safe because he implemented the rules of no cooking and no E-bike battery charging inside. He asked the people staying to donate $300 a month to a fund for a larger place.

This situation speaks to the larger crisis New York City is facing regarding migrants. As per the New York Post, over 48,000 migrants are living in New York City shelters — and there are still people migrating here in vast numbers. At the Roosevelt Hotel (which has been turned into a shelter for migrants), 13,000 people were processed there in the past month. 

Since our school community is based in the New York Metropolitan area, it’s appropriate to ask students what they think of NYC’s migrant crisis in the context of the situation in South Richmond Hill. Pg Marshall, a Sewanhaka student, stated, “I think that this crisis is affecting New York and other states and that the government needs to help out. New York needs funding to help keep the migrants in a safe environment with food and shelter without affecting citizens who already pay taxes.”

Senior student Abby Rodriguez agreed with this and stated “I understand that New York City is one of the best cities in the world and that people get excited with the American dream and doing major things with their own life but New York City is already suffering with the economy as a result of this migration. This influx in migration will also lead to overpopulation.” 

While it can’t be stated that all Sewanhaka students believe migration is killing New York City, Seniors Abby Rodriguez and Pg Marshall both believe that something needs to be done and that our government must act to maintain the integrity of our city.