Frank Tammaro, a 95-year-old Korean War veteran, recently shared how he was given less than two months to find a new housing situation after his nursing home was reportedly sold to be repurposed as a facility for undocumented migrants.
The incident has further ignited discussions about the city’s stance on the migrant crisis and its implications for local residents.
During a press conference alongside Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-N.Y.), Tammaro stated, “The thing I’m annoyed about is how they did it, it was very disgraceful what they did to the people in Island Shores.”
Tammaro explained that the residents were given a relatively short period to relocate.
“One day, there was a notice on the board,” he said. “I think that gave us a month and a half to find out where we were going to go. I thought my suitcases were going to be on the curb because I’m not that fast.”
READ MORE: NYC to pay over $1 billion in hotel costs for migrants
The hasty decision to turn the nursing home into a migrant facility allegedly left him and other residents with limited time to respond or protest.
New York City Councilman David Carr confirmed the change at the Island Shores facility to SI Live. The Island Shores Senior Residence’s online records now list the facility as “permanently closed,” according to Fox News.
Highlighting the broader implications of the decision to remove nursing home residents and transform the facility into migrant housing, Malliotakis pointed out, “Our tax dollars as citizens of New York should not be utilized to house citizens of other countries, especially at the expense of our senior citizens and veterans who put their lives on the line, paid taxes their whole lives and built our communities.”
The increasing influx of tens of thousands of migrants to New York City has significantly strained local resources, posing challenges for housing officials.
This news article was partially created with the assistance of artificial intelligence and edited and fact-checked by a human editor.
