NY judge blocks NYC from sending busloads of migrants to Orange County amid crisis
A state judge has issued yet another temporary restraining order that further thwarts Mayor Eric Adams’ push to dump migrants in upstate counties — while nearly a dozen of New York City’s asylum-seeker families arrived at a Yonkers hotel.
State Supreme Court Judge Sandra Sciortino on Tuesday granted Orange County’s request to bar the Big Apple from sending any more migrants to the region after busloads started arriving at two Newburgh hotels last week.
Under the order, the 186 asylum seekers that were already sent to the Crossroads Inn and Ramada by Wyndham will be allowed to stay in the county — but no additional migrant arrivals will be permitted, at least for now.
County Executive Steve Neuhaus’ office claimed that the Big Apple had planned to send off seven more busloads of asylum-seekers from the Big Apple before the order was handed down.
“New York City should not be establishing a homeless shelter outside of its borders in Orange County,” Neuhaus said in a statement.
New York City Hall spokesman Fabien Levy responded in a statement to The Post on Tuesday, “We need the federal government to step up, but until they do, we need other elected officials around the state and country to do their part.
“New York City is out of space, and we’re only asking Orange County to manage approximately ¼ of 1% of the asylum seekers who have come to New York City, with New York paying for shelter, food, and services.
“We are disappointed in today’s ruling, and we are reviewing our legal options.”
The latest migrant-related court order handed down in Orange County comes after Rockland County was granted a similar ruling last week that blocked the anticipated arrival of asylum-seekers at The Armoni Inn in Orangetown.
Top pols in various counties, including Rockland, Orange and Broome, quickly declared state of emergencies in their respective regions to ban hotels, motels and other short-term rentals from accepting any migrants, after Adams’ plan became apparent.
Broome County Sheriff Fred Akshar said Tuesday that after the emergency declaration went into effect there last week, his deputies determined that New York City had approached at least two local hotels — the Quality Inn and Comfort Suites in Vestal — about the possibility of taking on migrants.
Meanwhile, in Westchester County, roughly 10 migrant families started arriving at the Ramada Inn in Yonkers late Monday — despite fierce objections from some local officials there.
Some of the new arrivals were spotted being directed to their rooms Tuesday. At one point, reps from a local organization Bundles of Joy dropped off supplies for the young families.
“It doesn’t matter how they got here, they’re here,” said one of the group’s members, Amanda Fitzgerald. “It doesn’t matter what the politics were — the babies need diapers, and formula, and they need clothes.”
“We have bassinets, we have hair brushes, 400 diapers … whatever it is they need.”
The developments came after two homeless families said Monday they were being booted from the Ramada Inn to make way for the migrants.
Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano has previously ripped Adams’ migrant plan as “unfair” and “unacceptable.
“We are compassionate to the plight of asylum seekers, and the city of Yonkers will always step up to aid others in need,” Spano over the weekend. “However, the sheer lack of communication and planning from New York City on this crucial matter is unacceptable.”
Additional reporting by Zach Williams
