RICHMOND HILL, NY (TIP): An onsite building inspection in New York led to the discovery of 87 people living in a Queens basement Monday, February 26, according to law enforcement sources, says a NewsNation report. NewsNation says the incident happened around 11:40 p.m. at 132-03 Liberty Ave. in Richmond Hill . The FDNY arrived at the building to conduct an onsite inspection. They entered the basement and found 87 people living there, according to sources. Mayor Eric Adams said a 311 call was what prompted an investigation into the building during a news conference Tuesday. WPIX reached out to the FDNY for comment.
The people were transported to a migrant shelter in the Bronx, sources said. The Office of Emergency Management confirmed to WPIX that it responded to the scene.
The backyard of the building was filled with what appeared to be delivery bikes, photos from the scene show.
The building’s owner, 47-year-old Ebou Sarr, told WPIX on Tuesday that he was charging migrants $300 a month to live in the building. He said most of the migrants are from Senegal, and that he was providing them with breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Sarr also said he’s looking at commercial properties to help them find a place to live.
“The city is saying that they have no place for these people,” Sarr said. “It’s not true.”
Officials have not confirmed if the people living in the basement were migrants.
When asked about the situation during Tuesday’s news conference, the Adams administration said that there is a housing problem in the city – but also defended its handling of the migrant crisis.
“What we discovered last night in some ways is also symptomatic of a larger crisis that this city is facing that we’ve talked about repeatedly in terms of the housing shortage in this city,” said Maria Torres-Springer, the deputy mayor for housing. “It is not a new thing that too many people make desperate choices about where to live and what to pay for and at the root of that is the fact that we haven’t built enough housing.”
The Department of Buildings issued a vacate order for the building due to unsafe conditions found in the basement, such as overcrowding, according to sources. After the FDNY found numerous fire hazards, the New York City Emergency Management Department referred people in need of further assistance, sources said.
(Source: NewsNation)