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Police search huge NYC migrant shelter for 'dangerous contraband' as residents wait in summer heat

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Police search huge NYC migrant shelter for 'dangerous contraband' as residents wait in summer heat
News

News

Police search huge NYC migrant shelter for 'dangerous contraband' as residents wait in summer heat

2024-08-03 07:55 Last Updated At:08:00

NEW YORK (AP) — Police searched New York City's largest asylum-seeker shelter for hours Friday for “dangerous contraband” as many of the 3,000 residents waited outside on a sweltering summer day.

Many details remained unclear about the search on Randall's Island, which houses people in large tents.

“They just came with dogs,” resident Clifton Arriste said as he sat outside the tents in the early evening, unsure what the animals were brought to sniff for.

Police Deputy Commissioner Kaz Daughtry said in a midafternoon social media post that there was “an operation” to “remove any dangerous contraband from the shelter.”

“The safety and security of all New Yorkers, and every single person in our care, is our top priority,” he wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

The police department didn't answer follow-up questions about the duration of the search, what it entailed, the impetus for it and any steps being taken to ensure shelter residents' welfare on a day when temperatures topped 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 Celsius) on a humid afternoon. By early evening, most people were back inside the tents.

Advocates for the migrants decried the search.

“Temporarily displacing and conducting a police raid on 3,000 new arrivals, despite today’s heat advisory, not only raises serious constitutional questions but is draconian and fuels dangerous xenophobic sentiment," the Legal Aid Society and the Coalition for the Homeless said in a statement.

Since the spring of 2022, about 207,000 migrants have arrived and sought aid in New York City, and about 65,000 remain in city care, Mayor Eric Adams said at a town hall meeting Wednesday. Adams, a Democrat, said about 1,000 migrants now arrive weekly, down from a peak of 4,000.

The city has housed them in hotels, empty schools and other facilities, including at Randall's Island.

Concerns about safety and violence in and around the city's various migrant shelters have flared periodically.

In a recent example, a woman was shot dead and two people were wounded early Monday in a Randall’s Island park where people had come together to react to Venezuela’s presidential election. Police said they believed the shooter was retaliating after being robbed at gunpoint earlier.

The mayor, a retired police captain, said this winter that metal detectors would be installed at the Randall's Island facility. He has also said, however, that troublemakers are few considering the number of people in the shelters.

Arriste, who is from gang-violence-wracked Haiti, said he had never seen drugs or weapons at the shelter but was concerned for his security at times.

“Sometimes people just can get fighting together, and when they get fighting, that’s when everything can happen,” he said. “We’re not safe in this way.”

Asylum seekers watch police activity on the migrant shelter at Randall's Island, Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, in New York. Police searched New York City's largest asylum-seeker shelter for hours Friday, saying they were looking for any "dangerous contraband" among its 3,000 residents, many of whom waited outside on a sweltering summer day. (AP Photo/David R. Martin)

Asylum seekers watch police activity on the migrant shelter at Randall's Island, Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, in New York. Police searched New York City's largest asylum-seeker shelter for hours Friday, saying they were looking for any "dangerous contraband" among its 3,000 residents, many of whom waited outside on a sweltering summer day. (AP Photo/David R. Martin)

Asylum seekers watch police activity on the migrant shelter at Randall's Island, Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, in New York. Police searched New York City's largest asylum-seeker shelter for hours Friday, saying they were looking for any "dangerous contraband" among its 3,000 residents, many of whom waited outside on a sweltering summer day. (AP Photo/David R. Martin)

Asylum seekers watch police activity on the migrant shelter at Randall's Island, Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, in New York. Police searched New York City's largest asylum-seeker shelter for hours Friday, saying they were looking for any "dangerous contraband" among its 3,000 residents, many of whom waited outside on a sweltering summer day. (AP Photo/David R. Martin)

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Clarke Schmidt on track to make Yankees season debut on April 15 or 16

2025-04-04 14:42 Last Updated At:14:51

NEW YORK (AP) — Clarke Schmidt is on track to make his New York Yankees season debut on April 15 or 16 against the Kansas City Royals.

Schmidt is recovering from right rotator cuff tendinitis and set to start Saturday for Double-A Somerset at Hartford, his first game action since a March 11 exhibition against Baltimore.

“One more after and then with us either the 15th or 16th,” manager Aaron Boone said Thursday.

A 29-year-old right-hander, Schmidt is among three projected starters absent from the Yankees rotation. Ace Gerrit Cole, the 2023 AL Cy Young Award winner, will miss the season following Tommy John surgery. Reigning AL Rookie of the Year Luis Gil is sidelined until summer because of a lat strain.

Right-hander Ian Hamilton, recovering from a viral illness, made his second relief appearance for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Wednesday night. Boone said Hamilton will have one more minor league outing, then be activated for Monday's series opener at Detroit.

Infielder DJ LeMahieu is about a week from getting at-bats against pitching. The 36-year-old, a two-time batting champion, injured a calf muscle in his spring training debut on March 1.

“It would be probably a pretty big build-up. I’d want him to have kind of a spring training, really,” Boone said.

This story has been changed to correct the spelling of Schmidt's first name to Clarke throughout.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

FILE - New York Yankees pitcher Clarke Schmidt reacts as he leaves the field after being removed from the game in the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Kansas City Royals, July 21, 2023, in New York. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)

FILE - New York Yankees pitcher Clarke Schmidt reacts as he leaves the field after being removed from the game in the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Kansas City Royals, July 21, 2023, in New York. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)

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