New York migrants smash ‘powder keg’ in Queens BP Donovan Richards warns

Queens takes the largest share of migrants to emergency shelters set up by the city – fueling what the borough president on Thursday called a ‘powder keg’ of crises and creating a ‘recipe for disaster’ social and economic”.

Queens was home to 4,782 migrants, or 32% of the total 14,777 placed in emergency shelters on Wednesday, according to data compiled by the Department of Homeless Services and obtained by The Post on Thursday.

That share is more than a sixth larger than the 27.3% that Queens residents contribute to the city’s total population, according to 2020 census data.

« It’s a powder keg in Queens at this point, » Queens Borough President Donovan Richards said.

He said migrants were being sent even if « there are not enough resources injected into the communities ».

“There are several crises. You have a recession coming. We have a lack of affordable housing, rising rents. We have food insecurity.

« This is a recipe for social and economic disaster, » he warned.

Richardson specifically cited « not enough bilingual teachers and not enough bilingual mental health counselors – even in Queens », which is known as « The World’s Borough » because almost half of the 2.4 million inhabitants were born abroad.

« It’s beyond ridiculous, » he said.

DHS figures show the Bronx and Manhattan have also taken in more than their fair share of migrants, based on their percentage of the city’s total population, while Brooklyn – which accounts for 31.3% of the city’s population. city ​​– home to only 26% of migrants.

On Staten Island, where migrants have outraged residents and politicians by begging near hotels in the Travis neighborhood, the number has more than doubled in the past week, from 252 to 495 on October 5.

That pushed the borough’s share to 4% of the total and brought it closer to the 5.6% that Staten Island represents in terms of the Big Apple’s population of 8.2 million.

On Monday, Mayor Eric Adams warned that migrants would be housed in « all communities » in the city and said residents would not be alerted in advance.

« As the emergency arrives, we need to make those moves on the ground and make sure we deal with the crisis that’s in front of us, » he said.