Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy
The gathering occurred before a public meeting that Community Board 3 is hosting this Tuesday evening, Feb. 27. More about that session is below.
Dustin Ridener, special projects administrator for NYC Emergency Management (NYCEM), described the Feb. 9 get-together as a "small, focused gathering of invited advocates and stakeholders [that] aims to explore collaborative strategies with the community to enhance the support provided to asylum seekers, [to] find more effective and meaningful ways to assist New York City's newest arrivals."
There were few clear takeaways in the end, though many of the invited had opinions on what has been taking place the last nine months on the corner of Seventh Street and Avenue B and the immediate area. St. Brigid served as a respite center for asylum seekers for several months last year. Starting in October, the facility has been used as a reticketing center — the only one in the city.
Since then, the situation here is only getting worse, as more and more asylum seekers are reaching their 30-day limits at shelters across New York City, and they line up in the cold outside St. Brigid so they can be placed back into new shelters. (We outlined the challenges here.)
NYCEM Commissioner (and East Village resident) Zach Iscol stated that they want to change the narrative "from people in need to people we need."
"What can be done in the East Village [can] provide a model on how things are done," he said.
Mammad Mahmoodi, co-founder of East Village Loves NYC, the nonprofit that provides food and resources to people in need, including asylum seekers, suggested a name change from a reticketing center, "as it does everything except reticket."
He said EV Loves NYC has been providing 2,000 meals three times a week to asylum seekers, and that Trinity Lower East Side on Ninth Street and Avenue B has been providing 600 meals every weekday — and that no one has received funding.
EV Loves NYC co-founder Sasha Allenby brought up clothing and warming centers, especially for female asylum seekers with no hats, gloves, shoes, or warm clothing. She asked about attention for at-risk populations, people who are "literally freezing."
The group discussed putting a system in place to identify needs and supply specific items to those folks, but no concrete plans were made.
Another point of conversation: porta potties.
As we first reported on Jan. 9, the city removed the three portable toilets from Tompkins Square Park. The porta potties were in poor shape and had been vandalized, and officials figured the same thing would happen to any replacements.
For the last month and a half, anyone who needs to use a restroom while in Tompkins has been relieving themselves in and around the park.
Paul D'Amore, chief of operations of the Department of Parks & Recreation in Manhattan, told the group that "no decision on porta potties will be made until the spring." Several people made clear there was a need for them, prompting D'Amore and Deputy Chief of Operations Ralph Musolino to agree to discuss the issue and get back to the group.
The NYCEM pointed out that seven additional portable toilets were brought into the courtyard behind St. Brigid's and that any asylum seeker with a wristband can use them if accompanied to the area by a security escort from the facility. (We checked in with people in line at St. Brigid on the way home from the meeting and learned there were mixed messages about these toilets. Some people reported being able to access the facilities, while others said they could not.)
The meeting concluded with a plan to reconvene to discuss the next steps.
Afterward, EV Loves NYC's Sasha Allenby told us, "It was good to highlight the issues, but we really need to focus more on the solutions to them."
She continued: "An easy starting point would be the porta potties in the park. These are a legal requirement and should be an easily solvable issue. We also need real action on the vulnerability of the single women who are arriving."
NYCEM to address Community Board 3
On Tuesday evening, NYCEM's Commissioner Zach Iscol "will update the community on the agency's asylum-seeker operations and community engagement efforts within the confines of CB3," per the meeting invite.
Iscol is expected to speak at 7 p.m. Only board members can ask questions at the meeting, but residents may submit questions via email by tomorrow (Feb. 23) for Iscol to address.
The meeting will be in person at PS 20, 166 Essex St. at Houston, and streamed on YouTube here.
Previously on EV Grieve:
