Here's What Happened When Harlem Residents Learned Luxury Building Will Be Turned Into Migrant Shelter

Democratic New York City Mayor Eric Adams, just like Democratic New York Governor Kathy Hochul, changed his tune on illegal immigration once the Biden-caused border crisis started to impact his political standing among his constituents. Adams went from boasting about the Big Apple's 'sanctuary' status, to questioning those policies and repeatedly telling anyone who will listen that New York doesn't have any more 'room.' He's offering new arrivals from the border one-way plane tickets out of the city. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott isn't listening, fortunately. For her part, Hochul shifted from quoting the Statue of Liberty poem in cheering on illegal immigration, to telling migrants to go anywhere else and complaining about border security. She's pushed illegal immigrants into Canada. In the latest skirmish related to New York being overwhelmed by the migrant population, residents in Harlem are furious at the government for appearing to make a decision to prioritize illegal immigrants over local residents in filling a vacant apartment building. Adams, amid an outcry, has now vowed that the location won't be used for housing migrants after all:

Harlem residents found out that New York City was turning a luxury building into a shelter for illegal aliens.

Residents came out in droves to protest.

Last night, Mayor Eric Adams joined them and decided that the illegals will NOT be housed there since the community was… pic.twitter.com/QiyAp2t3r0
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) February 16, 2024

Mayor Eric Adams stunningly reversed course on plans to turn an abandoned luxury Harlem condominium complex into a migrant shelter when he was met with community outrage Thursday night. Adams’ change of heart came during a surprise appearance at a St. Nicholas House Resident Association meeting packed with dozens of residents furious over the city’s plan for a building development on Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd once marketed as upscale housing. The 35-story building was quietly slated to become a homeless shelter that could potentially house migrants — a plan that was only revealed to the community this week when some neighborhood residents saw workers bringing bed frames and mattresses inside. But in the face of pressure, Adams on Thursday night backpedaled. “I told the team, ‘Find out what’s going on here. We’re not moving folks into a brand new building when you have long-term needs in a community. That’s not gonna happen,'” Adams said at the meeting, according to CBS New York.

This reminds me of officials pulling a quick 180 after students were moved out of their New York City school, into remote learning, so that the building could accommodate illegal immigrants. People went nuts, so the decision was reversed in one day. This latest maneuver appears to have been nipped in the bud. On Fox & Friends, a group of exasperated Harlem residents vented further frustrations over the situation:

Resident 1: "You have an obligation to your own black community to make sure we have our needs met. Every other demographic takes care of their communitues -- Chinese, Italian, Jewish -- but when it comes to communtiies of color, specifically black, it seems as though [officials] get paralyzed...we put you in a position to help us. This will definitely affect any elections going forward."

Host: What about Joe Biden? Because he supports the same [immigration policies] as well. Do you think there's a price for him, as well? Or just the mayor?

Resident 2: "Of course. Both. Both. It's time for action. We voted for you. I voted for Biden. I voted for Mayor Adams. It's time for action."

It's been fascinating to watch Democrats reacting to their coalition policies fraying over pressure points like this. It's not just happening in New York. It's also happening in Chicago, where Democrats from communities of color have been especially outspoken against migrant resettlement in their neighborhoods -- with some even pushing to rescind the city's 'sanctuary' status. Congratulations, again, to Texas and Gov. Abbott for forcing this issue. On the subject of Chicago, I'll leave you with the mayor's clownish, opaque, hypocritical resolution to this self-created mess:

As reported earlier, ⁦@ChicagosMayor⁩ extends Shot Spotter, but doesn’t disclose cost pic.twitter.com/Ql2htoK61E
— Mary Ann Ahern (@MaryAnnAhernNBC) February 17, 2024