On Friday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends,” New York State Sen. Jessica Scarcella-Spanton (D) criticized New York City’s plans to use the former St. John Villa Academy as a migrant shelter and said the plan “is another setback in giving this community an education center that they truly deserve. Most importantly, it’s in an extremely quiet residential area, and the residents do not want this shelter here.”
Scarcella-Spanton said, “St. John Villa Academy, which is actually my alma mater, is in a very, very residential area. It was supposed to be a school after they had to sell it. So, it’s set to still be a school. So, to me, this is another setback in giving this community an education center that they truly deserve. Most importantly, it’s in an extremely quiet residential area, and the residents do not want this shelter here. … And I’m really encouraging the administration to utilize the relationships he has with the elected officials who know their communities best. And this is certainly not the right location for a migrant shelter.”
She added, “It’s not a good place for a site, and it’s not too late. They haven’t brought the migrants over yet. It’s not too late for the city to reverse this decision. If they could see what we’re seeing on the ground, I know that they would understand this is a poor location for these migrants. It’s in the middle of a residential community, and they’re going to keep coming out and protesting against this and nobody wants that.”
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