Elected officials, local residents call for action after alleged illegal driving incidents linked to migrant shelters

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Elected officials and some local residents called on the city to take action this week after a series of illegal driving incidents allegedly connected to two Travis migrant shelters.

Rep. Nicole Mallitoakis (R-Staten Island/South Brooklyn) penned a letter to Mayor Eric Adams and Police Commissioner Edward Caban Monday about migrants at the two hotel shelters off Wild Avenue operating unregistered vehicles without insurance.

That same day, the congresswoman joined her colleagues — Councilman David Carr (R-South Shore), Borough President Vito Fossella, State Sen. Andrew Lanza (R-South Shore), Assemblyman Michael Reilly (R-South Shore), and Assemblyman Sam Pirozzolo (R-Mid-Island) — in a separate letter to Department of Social Services (DSS) Commissioner Molly Park complaining about same issue.

“[Some] migrants being housed in the hotel shelter in Travis own or operate cars. In addition, law enforcement has confirmed on occasion that some do not have the proper documentation to drive a vehicle, whether it be lacking registration or not having license plates,” the group of elected officials wrote in their letter to Park.

“We are requesting that the New York City Department of Social Services require any shelter resident that keeps a vehicle on site or in the area show proof of license, registration, proper display of plates and insurance. Anyone that fails to do this should have their vehicle towed and impounded. This will help to ensure the safety of everyone. Driver or pedestrian, citizen or migrant, and prevent individuals who are untrained from causing more of these incidents.”

In her letter to Adams and Caban, Malliotakis referenced a specific incident during which a migrant from the shelter allegedly crashed into a parked car around 4:30 a.m. the morning of Aug. 27, as the New York Post first reported. The person driving the car allegedly didn’t have a license, and the car was without a proper registration, or license plate, according to Malliotakis and the Post report.

However, there were no cars in the shelters’ parking lots lacking official licence plates on two Advance/SILive.com visits to the site earlier this week.

John Aspinali, president of the Travis Civic Organization and a nearby resident, said that August collision was far from the only incident that the neighborhood has experienced.

He said he often sees cars parked near the two shelters without license plates, and has seen people in unlicensed cars picking kids up at nearby PS 26.

“This is not a migrant issue. This is an accountability issue,” the local civic leader said during a Tuesday phone interview. “They’re getting into car accidents, and they have no licenses and they have no insurance, and nobody is holding them accountable. That is the biggest issue right now that we’re dealing with in our community.”

Malliotakis pointed out in her individual letter that the driving without a license or of cars without proper documentation is not an issue unique to the migrant community, but implored the city to take action.

New York legislators passed a law in 2019 that allows anyone living in the state age 16 and older to apply for a standard, not for federal purpose, non-commercial driver license or learner permit regardless of their citizenship or lawful status in the United States.

A spokesperson for the NYPD said the department would review her letter upon its receipt, and Kayla Mamelak, a spokesperson for the mayor, said the city would take action if necessary.

“Illegal activity of any kind will not be tolerated,” she said. “We will review the letters, investigate the allegations, and take enforcement action where necessary.”

The two shelters at the Comfort Inn, 310 Wild Ave., and the Holiday Inn Express, 300 Wild Ave., have been in operation since October of last year, but have drawn minimal community pushback compared to other local shelters, like the one that had been opened at the former St. John Villa Academy in Arrochar.

A third hotel on the same lot — a Fairfield Inn and Suites by Marriott, 290 Wild Ave. — is not being used as a migrant shelter, and is under different ownership than the two other hotels. The shelters are being operated by local non-profit organization Project Hospitality.

While local elected officials and some in the community have spoken out against what’s going on in the shelter, others have been more understanding of the circumstances.

Gene Guerra, former head of the Travis Civic Association, stood watch across Wild Avenue during a recent protest outside the shelters, and said he didn’t recognize most of the crowd as his neighbors from the place he’s called home since 1999.

“I don’t support what these people [protestors] are doing. I really don’t,” he said. “These immigrants, these asylum seekers, they really haven’t been a problem here. You’ll have an occasional barbecue, and they’ll light a fire. What else do you want them to do? They’re living in shoeboxes.”