Are the Asylum Seekers ruining Staten Island?
By Jillian Miano
In 2020, Asylum seekers were making their way to Staten Island to live. They first started to reside on 290 Wild Avenue in Travis located near showplace bowling alley. Asylum seekers also known as migrants were only allowed to live in the Holiday Inn Hotel and the Comfort Inn hotel. These hotels were used as a place to stay or as a residence for the homeless Americans. The Fairfield hotel didn’t budge on the deal with the city for at least 3 months. It was only a matter of time until the hotel also became a residence for the migrants.
As time went by the people of Travis were starting to get scared as well as fed up with the situation. They were going up to people’s front doors asking for money, clothes, or whatever they can get to live. The problem with that was if you didn’t give them anything, they didn’t leave your front yard. As a resident of Travis, I have been to countless neighborhood meetings involving. Officials such as, Councilman Carr. And top police officers. There were no results into how they were going to fix the problems that? the neighborhood is facing.
There were videos and proof that the Asylum Seekers were doing some harm to the neighborhood. At one point of time, you couldn’t drive down Wild Avenue to get to the West Shore Expressway because they were partying in the streets in the summer, while leaving bags of clothes and other items in the street. Now they cook, hang out, and even get violent with people in the streets of Travis. Shmul Park playground has to be reconstructed for the third time due to the play mat material being ripped up by the children of the Asylum Seekers.
St. John’s Villa Academy has now become another home to the migrants. In that area alone there are schools with young children as close as 50 feet away including St. Joseph Hill Academy. In St. John’s Villa Academy there are more men than women and children residing there. Mayor Eric Adams has said “All options. are on the table” in regard to opening more shelters for the Asylum Seekers. Hundreds of Islanders came out in droves to protest against the migrants coming to the school that was bought by the city. There was an appeal shortly after, but then the appeal was overturned, and the asylum seekers were headed back to the school. As for the safety of Staten Island’s children, residents of the Island have put together neighborhood watch groups for Travis and for the children going to school near St. John’s Villa Academy. It is called P.O.C.
