Migrants run illegal market under New York City expressway

Hundreds of migrants are running an illegal open-air market under a New York City expressway, the New York Post reported Saturday.

According to the outlet, more than 200 migrants are residing under a stretch of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway at Park Avenue and Hall Street.

The area has been converted into a “mini-city,” the Post reported, where migrants sell goods and services. Some individuals are using the area to sell Nike sneakers, and others are offering haircuts.

New York City’s closest shelter is only a block away, but many stated they do not want to stay in the city’s shelter system or were evicted after reaching the 30-day maximum stay limit. Individuals reported being unable to find permanent shelter.

Roughly 3,000 migrants have reached the shelter stay limit, but only half have reapplied for shelter space.

A 48-year-old from Ecuador told the Post that he arrived in the country six months ago and moved to the street after reaching the city’s shelter stay limit.

“It’s very hard,” he said. “[The immigration system] has no heart. We are human beings. We have the right to seek opportunities in our lives.”

In July, the city’s sanitation workers and police cleared out the makeshift tent city, but migrants quickly returned. The outlet noted that the tents were removed, but asylum-seekers are now sleeping in open-air homes under the expressway, with mattresses and tables splayed out between parked vehicles.

A 36-year-old Peruvian migrant told the Post in July, “We don’t want to live [in the encampment], but it’s better than the shelters.” He noted that he regretted coming to the United States after experiencing poor living conditions.

“I had a good house back in my country,” he continued. “This is terrible – I never thought I would live someplace like this.”

Neighbors are fed up with the unsanitary conditions. Some have even reported seeing migrants carrying guns. Clinton Hill residents said that migrants have been drinking and smoking in the children’s playground nearby.

One area resident told the Post, “The problem hasn’t gotten any better, it’s gotten worse and continues to get worse.”

“I’d rather see the tents. It literally looks and smells horrible down there now,” he added.

Another neighbor told the outlet, “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 resident stated.

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