REPORTAGE – Improvised camps, poorly managed reception centers, billions spent: the arrival of 210,000 migrants in two years in the sanctuary city has had consequences on the inhabitants of a city historically built on immigration.
This morning, Alejandro is in a good mood. “They’re finally clearing out the tents, it’s not too soon.” This resident of East Harlem, a neighborhood in northern Manhattan, came to stretch his legs on the shores of Randall’s Island before the New York marathon. The tents are those of the migrants who had set up in front of the official shelter opened by the city of New York to accommodate more than 3,000 individuals – a reception center which was at one time the largest in the city . “Thank you, officer, thank you», Indicates the runner each time he passes in front of one of the police officers deployed on this tear of land wedged between Manhattan and Queens.
«The problem is that they weren’t that well received.», continues Alejandro. “So they started by setting up outside. It quickly became dirty and dangerous, to the point that many people no longer wanted to come to the island, whereas before there were always children coming to play here..” According to him and other returning joggers, the banks were covered with unsanitary makeshift camps. A few days from…
