Queens residents concerned over migrant shelter on the grounds of an old psychiatric hospital

Community members working and living near the Creedmoor Psychiatric Center in Queens Village have mixed responses to the Adams administration’s proposal to erect a sprawling tent facility to house asylum-seekers on the campus grounds.

Plans to create two new temporary migrant shelters at the state-owned Creedmoor Psychiatric Center campus and the Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens have already spurred concerns from local leaders about the implication of adding hundreds or thousands of people to a neighborhood.

While some local residents said on Tuesday morning that they welcome the new arrivals, they were also concerned about housing people on the Creedmoor campus, which is sandwiched between major parkways and bustling streets.

“I think it’s a great thing to make shelter for the asylum-seekers,” said Aleena Roy, who lives down the road from the campus. “I just wish there was a better place you could do it.”

Roy said she worries about the shelter’s proximity to Creedmoor, where she said she routinely faces street harassment in the evening.

Jordan Stewart praised the city’s support for migrants but pointed to the economic challenges facing current Queens residents like himself.

“I’m glad the city is trying to help,” he said. “But also there’s not much space in the city and people are having hard times trying to afford their rent everywhere.”

At the same time, Stewart said that migrants arriving in the city “do need help and they need more shelter, and the city needs to do more.”

Just last month, hundreds of Queens residents as well as community groups and advocates urged the city to build affordable housing on grounds of the old psychiatric hospital, arguing that it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to spur thousands of units amid a deepening affordability crisis and record-high rents.

Dennis McCann, another Queens resident who lives near the facility, says he’s unhappy about the plans to use the campus to house migrants.

“I don’t like the idea,” McCann said, noting the site’s proximity to schools. “There’s certainly better places to build it. “It’s gotta go somewhere, but a residential neighborhood? I don’t think so.”

But for others, housing migrants nearby isn’t likely to change anything.

Krishna Reddy, who works at a deli down the street from Creedmoor, said that housing the newcomers is “a good thing."

"If they’re left on the roads, that’s the problem,” Reddy said.

Queens Borough President Donovan Richards was among the advocates campaigning for affordable housing at the Creedmoor site. He previously told Gothamist that the housing was critical to meeting the borough’s housing needs.

Richards said on Monday night that the shelter plan for the site highlights the importance of building more permanent housing in Queens.

“We gotta build housing,” he said. “To me, this is a reminder of why it’s so critical to build permanent housing.”

Kate Smart, a spokesperson for the mayor, reiterated that none of the shelter sites are final until they’re formally announced.

“All options are on the table,” she said.