Queens Chronicle
A press conference was held in Queens Village last Friday in the wake
of two Cuban migrant brothers wanted for attempted murder in Orlando,
Fla., allegedly being discovered with a gun inside the tent city on the
Creedmoor Psychiatric Center complex.
Councilwoman Linda Lee
(D-Oakland Gardens), who held the event, in conjunction with other area
officials, was stunned to learn about the fugitives from the New York
Post, which first reported the incident.
“It happened three days
ago,” Lee told the Chronicle on Oct. 4. “The most alarming part of this
is that I found out today ... We didn’t get any phone calls from anyone
at [City Hall].”
Lee said she was at the complex just a few weeks ago discussing how to improve conditions at the tent city.
“Quality
of life issues need to be addressed,” Lee said. “Whether it is the
garbage, the lack of buses or the parks not being open.”
The
councilwoman said residents have been patient and understanding when it
comes to what is happening with the migrant crisis, but to have a tent
city with more than 1,200 asylum seekers smacked down in the middle of a
residential neighborhood, unlike the Humanitarian Emergency Response
and Relief Centers on Randall’s Island in Manhattan and Floyd Bennett
Field in Brooklyn, is problematic.
“Those two other tent city
HERRC sites are in isolated areas,” said Lee. “This one is ... across
the street from a school, the park and everything.”
Lee said when
she did a site tour of the facility when it first opened up, she was
told there was an intake process and background checks being conducted.
“My
question is, where did the system fall apart?” she said. “Maybe we need
to do a better intake and reevaluate the system to make sure this
doesn’t happen.”
Lee said the situation is very dangerous not only to the residents, but the migrants too.
“If
a fight broke out, if there is an incident that happens, that puts the
other migrants at risk as well,” she said. “We want this site to be
closed, but in the meantime, what we are demanding are metal detectors
installed ... We are going to push the city for this.”
Mayor
Adams’ office said it does not do criminal background checks on everyone
who comes through the system, but all its migrant facilities have 24/7
security to keep every individual under its care — and New Yorkers at
large — safe. Adams’ office also said that anyone who violates the code
of conduct or threatens the safety of other shelter residents and staff
may be subject to loss of shelter.
The Mayor’s Office did not say
whether it will consider having metal detectors in HERRC facilities in
the future after the alleged incident, but did say that it inspects all
bags and packages, including food delivery bags.
When asked what
the vetting and flagging process entailed, the Mayor’s Office did not
further elaborate before press time. U.S. Customs and Border Protection
said that it will look into the Chronicle’s inquiry and will respond at a
later time.
Daniel Sparrow, a spokesman for Lee, told the
Chronicle that she was under the impression the vetting or flagging
process included criminal background checks.
Sparrow said, during
initial the tour her office was assured that between the CBP and
Roosevelt Hotel in Manhattan, where migrants share their information
again for intake in the city, asylum seekers would be vetted, screened
(for communicable diseases such as Covid-19), and flagged if anything
alarming came up.
“Since these individuals were previously in
Florida, there was evidently a lapse in the intake process that allowed
individuals with outstanding warrants to be placed there,” he said.
Jaroscar
Chavez Silva, 36, was charged with one felony count of criminal
possession of a weapon in the second degree, according to the city
Department of Correction.
According
to a criminal complaint from the Queens District Attorney’s Office, a
black G2S Taurus pistol loaded with one 9mm bullet and one magazine
containing six 9mm rounds of ammunition was found in a duffle bag
underneath the bed of the defendant. The complaint said a warrant was
issued for Chavez Silva’s arrest on Sept. 16.
Rosheil Chavez
Silva, 30, his brother, was extradited back to Florida after police at
the 105th Precinct questioned both, reported the Post.
Bob
Friedrich, president of Glen Oaks Village, a co-op with 10,000 residents
adjacent to the migrant facility, said he does not believe the people
at the site are being vetted.
“We have minimum-wage guards
entrusted with securing our security inside the shelter,” Friedrich
said. “Twenty-four-seven NYPD presence has been eliminated. The
sidewalks outside have been strewn with litter and scores of migrants
hang out and block the sidewalks. Our beloved elderly residents and
young moms with children no longer can congregate at the park across
from the migrant shelter because they have been pushed out and feel
unsafe.”
Rich Hellenbrecht, the secretary and treasurer of the
Bellerose Commonwealth Civic Association, told the Chronicle he was
outraged, but the Borough President’s Office told him it would look into
the matter.
“These are the guys that got caught,” Hellenbrecht
said. “How many people are walking around with knives in their pocket or
guns?”