Rep. Malliotakis says planned Staten Island migrant shelter would be operating illegally

STATEN ISLAND N.Y. — A migrant shelter planned for Port Richmond would be operating illegally, according to local elected officials.

Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-Staten Island/South Brooklyn) led a Friday letter to the Rev. John Wood, of United Faith Methodist Church on Heberton Avenue, saying the shelter would violate the church’s certificate of occupancy.

Local elected officials first exposed Mayor Eric Adams plan to open a 15-men shelter at the site last week voicing their opposition. They said June 13 the shelter was set to open June 14, but it’s unclear if it has yet to do so.

“The proposed shelter would be located in the basement of [the building] which was always allocated to usage for community needs and is not zoned for housing,” the local elected officials wrote in their Friday letter. “Nowhere in the Certificate of Occupancy...does it allow for the temporary or permanent occupancy of individuals.”

A review of the church’s Certificate of Occupancy confirmed that it is not specifically labeled for residential housing. Calls to the church, and Wood went unanswered by the time of publication.

However, a City Hall spokesperson confirmed the site had been in operation as a shelter since June 18, and shared some of the latest data on the migrant crisis’ impact on New York City.

Since spring 2022, more than 200,000 people have made their way to the five boroughs prompting the creation of 200 emergency shelters to house the new arrivals costing the city close to $5 billion. Officials have maintained that only about 1% of the new arrivals have been housed on Staten Island.

“New Yorkers are understandably frustrated with bearing the brunt of this national humanitarian crisis, and we’re frustrated too,” the spokesperson said. “We have been out of viable options for months now as hundreds of additional migrants continue to arrive every single week asking for shelter. Our response not only requires a whole-of-government effort, but includes collaboration with nonprofits, community organizations, volunteers, and the faith community. While we continue to urge our federal partners for increased support, we also welcome all houses of worship and religious leaders who want to practice their faith by participating in our migrant shelter programs.”

City Hall did not respond to the arguments raised by Malliotakis about the United Faith Methodist Church shelter operating unlawfully.

The congresswoman made a similar argument about a city migrant shelter that had been planned at Rosebank’s Canterbury House earlier this year but was later scrapped.

Several other shelters around the city, including one in a former Stapleton school and another at the former St. John Villa Academy in Arrochar, were closed because of conflicts with the city fire code.

Borough President Vito Fossella, Staten Sen. Andrew Lanza (R-South Shore), Assemblyman Michael Reilly (R-South Shore), Assemblyman Sam Pirozzolo (R-Mid-Island), Councilman Joseph Borelli (R-South Shore), and Councilman David Carr (R-Mid-Island/South Brooklyn) joined Malliotakis in her Friday letter regarding Faith United Methodist Church.

“Port Richmond is a neighborhood experiencing a revival with new restaurants, businesses, and a strong civic association,” the group wrote. “Many of its residents are new immigrants themselves who have invested in this area and their homes only to see the city is intent on housing unvetted migrants in the basement of a church that has been a staple in their community.”

State Sen. Jessica Scarcella-Spanton (D-North Shore/South Brooklyn) and Councilwoman Kamillah Hanks (D-North Shore) have also expressed opposition to the shelter, but did not sign onto the letter.

Hanks said last week that her office first became aware of the city’s plan June 15 through a text message from Mayor Eric Adams’ administration.

She said the shelter would be run by New York Disaster Interfaith Services with one shower among the 15 men, who would have access to facility from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

A spokeswoman for Malliotakis’ office said Tuesday that they had yet to receive a response from the church or City Hall.

Adams announced in early June last year that the city would be using houses of worship to shelter migrant arrivals in the city. That included two houses of worship on Staten Island, a claim some local elected officials disputed.

A network of churches across Staten Island has long been used to nightly house members of the traditional homeless population for decades.

When announcing the migrant program last year, Adams’ administration styled it as an improvement of that traditional service with congregations able to provide more to the people being housed in their buildings.

Hanks said at the end of last week’s press conference outside Faith United Methodist Church that a total of six houses of worship had been identified for shelters on Staten Island, but couldn’t specify which ones.