STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- After a judge temporarily blocked the housing of migrants at the former St. John Villa Academy, it was overturned a few hours later after an appeal by the city.
After the city appealed the temporary restraining order -- issued by Supreme Court Judge Wayne Ozzi on Friday afternoon -- the Appellate Court removed a vacate order, which allows the migrants already moved in to stay, according to City Hall.
However, the Appellate Court judge denied the city’s request to dismiss the case, according to attorney Mark J. Fonte, who is representing the plaintiffs in the case, which include a neighbor of the site and Staten Island Republican officials.
“Even though the case is continuing, the emergency portion of it, which is the emergency restraining order, has been lifted, which means the migrants can now come back here,” said Fonte, who noted the plaintiffs are considering taking the lawsuit to the Court of Appeals.
While about 25 migrants were seen getting back on the bus only hours after they arrived on Friday, it was because they chose to leave due to safety concerns, according to City Hall. Many protesters at the scene were chanting “Go back home,” and “Go the f--- home. ”
There are currently about 25 migrants on site, according to City Hall.
Of the overturned lawsuit, Assemblyman Michael Tannousis (R-East Shore/Brooklyn) and all Republican elected officials issued the following statement: “...Judge Ozzi gave the people of Staten Island something that both the mayor and governor have not - the ability to be heard on the reasons why placing a homeless shelter at this location was a terrible idea that would hurt the community. We are extremely disappointed by the decision to reverse Judge Ozzi’s ruling today.”
AT THE SCHOOL
Among the vocal residents in the street later in the day Friday was City Councilman David Carr (R-Mid Island), who said he was “extremely disappointed that the temporary restraining order was reversed.
“I think that what the appellate division did today was just, practically speaking, the wrong decision,’’ he said. “And I’m just here because I want to ... be in solidarity with my constituents, who had some good news earlier today that was turned around, and I just want to make sure that they know that I’m with them on this.”
Carr also questioned the lack of transparency of the latest decision.
“The motivation behind it isn’t clear because there’s no written opinion,’’ he said. “It seems to be that yet another decision was made in a setting that wasn’t really public, isn’t transparent.”
The residents, he said, should continue to voice their opinions.
“I think that they’re doing the right thing,’’ he said. “This is their street and their neighborhood, and they have every right to be out here.”
EARLIER FRIDAY
Judge Wayne Ozzi granted a temporary restraining order in Richmond County Supreme Court on Friday blocking the migrant shelter, despite the arrival of roughly 50 migrants early Friday afternoon.
Two bus loads of migrants arrived Friday in Arrochar at the former St. John Villa Academy despite a week’s worth of protests against the shelter.
The buses pulled in along Cleveland Place a little before 1 p.m. and about 50 migrants got off as an equal-sized crowd of resident protesters jeered at them, telling them they were unwelcome.
A group of roughly 50 migrants arrived at the former St. John Villa Academy shelter on Friday afternoon. They would be forced to vacate the premises just hours later due to court order. (Staten island Advance/Paul Liotta)Jason Paderon
“The outrage and insanity continues. This is wrong on so many different levels. We will continue to fight these ridiculous policies any way we can,” Borough President Vito Fossella said. “The people of Arrochar, the parents and children of St. Joseph Hill Academy and PS 39 have the right to be disgusted.”
Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-Staten Island/South Brooklyn) celebrated Ozzi’s decision and said it was simply the first step in what’s expected to be a lengthy legal battle over the use of the site.
“Just as the city was unloading the migrant buses at St. John’s Villa on Staten Island, Judge Wayne Ozzi responded to our lawsuit by signing the temporary restraining order and vacate order, which halts the migrants from being housed at this location. Hopefully, the mayor and governor will realize that their citizens also have rights,” the congresswoman said in a statement.
“This is only the beginning of all legal remedies that I and our local elected leaders are prepared to take as we vigorously pursue every angle possible to stop this injustice to our taxpaying constituents who cannot and should not bear the burden of President Biden’s, Governor Hochul’s, and Mayor Adams’ failures,” the statement continued.
The temporary restraining order stems from a lawsuit filed Thursday by a neighbor and group of local elected officials — Tannousis, Fossella, Malliotakis, State Sen. Andrew Lanza (R-South Shore), Assemblyman Michael Reilly (R-South Shore), Assemblyman Sam Pirozzolo (R-Mid-Island), City Councilman Joseph Borelli (R-South Shore), and Councilman David Carr (R-Mid-Island) — seeking to block the shelter from opening.
In the state Supreme Court petition, local attorney Louis Gelormino argued that a variety of concerns — the zoning in the area, the impact the site would have on the neighbor’s property, a state law requiring community notice for homeless shelters, and the burden the site would have on Staten Island — mean the courts should move to block the Arrochar site.
The neighbor, Scott Herkert, whose property is adjacent to the former school, has been one of the leading opponents of the planned shelter, helping organize the ongoing protests and allowing his front lawn to be used for a massive sign that reads “NO F%*KIN WAY!” the general message of the protests.
Migrants are being moved out of the former St. John Villa Academy shelter after a judge issued temporary restraining and vacate orders in response to a lawsuit filed Thursday. (Dennis Rees for the Staten island Advance)
WEEK-LONG PROTESTS
The former school has been the site of nonstop protests since the city announced earlier this week that it would be the latest in a long line of shelters opened throughout the five boroughs.
On Wednesday night, residents and elected officials held a massive protest against the new shelter, with more than 1,000 people flooding the streets to voice their opposition to the city’s use of the site.
The raucous crowd gathered along Landis Avenue outside the former school chanted about saving their children and sending the migrants back to their countries of origin.
A small number of protesters who gathered during the day on Thursday quickly grew in the evening to more than 200 people, with three arrested overnight for obstructing governmental administration and trespassing after breaching the police barriers that had been set up at the location.
On Staten Island, emergency shelters have been set up at several hotels and inside the former Richard H. Hungerford School on Tompkins Avenue in Clifton.
Other sites around the Island have been rumored as potential migrant shelters, including a Midland Beach assisted living facility and Fort Wadsworth, both of which have been met with outcry and protests from locals and elected officials.
A massive crowd of Staten Islanders, elected officials and activists gather outside of the former St. John Villa Academy in Arrochar on Wednesday, August 23, 2023 to protest its conversion into a migrant shelter. (Staten Island Advance/Jason Paderon)
“We made a promise to each and every one of you that we were going to do everything in our power to make sure that you were heard,” Tannousis said. “And that’s exactly what we did.”
Fonte said late Friday afternoon that the city had filed an appeal against Ozzi’s decision.
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