First asylum seekers arrive in Westchester County, put up in hotel in Yonkers
YONKERS, N.Y. -- A judge has granted a temporary restraining order sought by Orange County. It prevents New York City from sending additional asylum seekers, beyond the 200 already settled in two hotels in Newburgh.
Down south in Westchester County, the first relocation of asylum seekers has begun in Yonkers.
From a baby bassinet to bags full of diapers, volunteers with the charity Bundles of Joy brought supplies to the Ramada Inn to help 40 mostly women with young children who arrived Monday night.
"One woman is expecting. She's having a baby next month. They came with backpacks. She basically needs everything a new mother would need," the charity's Christine Tormey said.
"It doesn't matter how they got here, whatever the politics were. They're here and the babies need diapers, and formula, and clothes," colleague Amanda Fitzgerald added.
"Yonkers is an immigrant city and we will treat the refugees with dignity," Mayor Mike Spano said.
Spano offered a welcome, but also said he's worried, uncertain how the asylum seekers relocated from New York will impact his city, including Yonkers schools.
A spokesman for New York City Mayor Eric Adams told CBS2, "We are aiming to send families with children below school age," prompting a reaction from Spano.
"When you say 'aiming,' that usually means a question mark, That usually means, 'Well. maybe. We hope. Just in case.' I'm not relying on that," Spano said.
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One asylum seeker from Nicaragua told CBS2 she's looking for stability and wants to settle in Westchester.
"I do not want us to be taken from one location to another," she said in Spanish, "to have security more than anything for the children."
Spano said New York City indicated the Ramada Inn is the only hotel in Yonkers that will be used for relocated asylum seekers. He expects about 50 more families to arrive in the near future.
Meanwhile on Long Island, the Town of Riverhead declared a state of emergency following reports Adams may send asylum seekers there.
"Riverhead has done more than its share when it comes to housing the homeless, providing services and offering affordable housing and our resources and taxpayers simply cannot withstand further demand on our public services," Town Supervisor Yvette Aguiar said in a statement.
The declaration went on to say town code prevents hotels from being used for housing, so any asylum seekers staying at hotels will be evicted.