Hundreds of illegal migrants have begun building a “mini-city” under the Brooklyn-Queen Expressway (BQE) in New York City, which includes a makeshift nighttime market offering food, drinks, clothes, and even haircuts on the street for $15.
Despite the area having been sanitized and tidied by city authorities after a number of migrants erected tents living beneath the BQE over the summer, local residents argue the area is busier than ever, with migrants once again pitching their tents and laying their mattresses down between rows of cars and rubbish bins.
A large percentage of the migrants – the majority of whom claim to be either Latin American or African – have been kicked out of city-run shelters after 30 days of residence and have not found alternative or permanent accommodation.
Local residents have already begun complaining about the situation again; one lamented, “There’s smells of urine and trash everywhere, and it’s just sad that the city doesn’t seem to care about the people that live here, that are from here, that pay taxes.”
“New Yorkers seem to be second-class citizens in all of this — and that’s the most upsetting part of it all,” the local resident added. The majority of New Yorkers concur, with 64 percent believing the city must reduce the number of migrants moving in. The vast majority blame Joe Biden for the ongoing crisis.
