Protesters gathered Wednesday outside the Creedmor Psychiatric Center in Queens, which is already home to more than 100 adult male migrants.

“What’s gonna happen with 1,000 single male migrants? They’re gonna take over the community,” said Queens Village resident Phil Orenstein. “They have nowhere to go, nothing to do. They’re gonna sit on cots. There are much better solutions.”

Creedmoor is located across the street from a park, elementary school, baseball field and a YMCA.

Queens Village residents say this is not the right place to house migrants.

“We’re not anti-immigrant,” Orenstein said. “I’m an immigrant myself. We would welcome true asylum seekers from war-torn countries.”

According to the United Nations, most of the migrants coming into the United States are from Venezuela and Africa and are fleeing political persecution.

Migrants have a 60-day limit on their stay at Creedmoor and will then be connected with a caseworker. But this area is considered a transportation desert with only one city bus line

“One of the migrants actually came up to me and asked me if I knew where the nearest train was,” said Bob Friedrich, the president of Glen Oaks Village. “We don’t have subways here. We have one bus and it doesn’t even run 24 hours.”

The weatherized tents at Creedmoor opened to adult male migrants on Tuesday. Dozens of rows of cots will accommodate 1,000 men, but some residents say these accommodations are inappropriate.

“A thousand cots head-to-toe. It’s inhumane,” Friedrich said. “And there are no jobs here. No services here. No shopping here.”

On Wednesday, Mayor Eric Adams announced that as of Aug. 13, more than 100,000 asylum seekers have come through the city’s shelter system. 

Some protesters — who are immigrants themselves — say this whole process is unfair to those who came to the United States legally.

“Before we come, the government has already checked everything and they know when we come here, we won’t commit crime, we will work hard, we will pay tax,” said Sharon Liao, who immigrated from Taiwan 37 years ago. “That’s what the government wants because we want high-quality people.”

 

Residents are calling on Adams, Gov. Kathy Hochul and President Joe Biden to put an end to the influx of migrants immediately.

“Make sure we close the border and rebuild the wall,” Liao said.

The NYPD arrested several people who blocked the street outside Creedmoor. Among them was former candidate for New York City Mayor Curtis Sliwa.