City of Yonkers in the dark as to the when migrant families will arrive from NYC

As of Sunday night, there was still no sign of the 100 migrant families who were expected to arrive at the Ramada Inn.

News 12 Staff

May 14, 2023, 3:33 PM

Updated 483 days ago

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The City of Yonkers continued to wait Sunday night for the arrival of the 100 migrant families bused in from New York City.
The families were expected to arrive sometime Sunday at the Ramada Inn on Tuckahoe Road.
Despite New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ office statements about their expected arrival, hotel staff said they had not been informed of the plan. County officials and Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano have been trying to get information from Adams but said they had been unsuccessful.
While many said they have no problem welcoming the migrants to Yonkers' already heavily populated immigrant communities, the political dialogue was still the hot button issue about Adams' handling of the situation.
"What's going on? That New York City just decides that they're going to place 100 families in our community without any prior knowledge, without any plan and certainly none of the funding that would be associated with a plan like that," Spano said.
Yonkers City Council Member Anthony Merante also found fault with the handling of the migrant crisis.
"We're dealing with a whole bunch of folks that we have no idea who they are, and it's a community safety issue. Mayor Adams dropped this bomb on us," Merante said.
As of Sunday night, there were still no concrete answers.
News 12's Carol Wilkinson spoke with someone at the front desk at the Ramada Inn on Sunday night. He told Wilkinson that there were no migrants set to arrive or expected to arrive. He also pointed to the company computer saying that there were no notifications in the system that there were plans for migrants to arrive at the hotel.
The arrangement for migrant families to be bused from New York City to the Yonkers hotel came days after the city sought to send adult male migrants to Orange and Rockland counties. Both counties are taking legal action over those plans.
Westchester County Executive George Latimer said it appears New York City officials are not keeping local leaders aware of their plans and choosing to talk directly with area hotels instead.
The city’s plan is reportedly to house the migrant families at the hotel for up to one year. The city also plans to pay for their stays and food.
County officials said they anticipate other expenses as migrants arrive, including security and transportation.