WSHINGTON — A giant Brooklyn migrant encampment deteriorated into a “dumping ground” and fire hazard — as Biden administration officials ignored pleas by state lawmakers and local officials to fix the problem, emails reviewed by The Post show.
Roughly 2,000 migrants were housed at Floyd Bennett Field between November 2023 and January 2025, when then-Mayor Eric Adams finally shut down what had become a shantytown inside a national historic site.
National Park Service employees were well aware of the safety issues, but told higher-ups the encampment was “clean and well-run,” according to emails first obtained by the Center to Advance Security in America (CASA).
“[W]e have always maintained that this situation is not optimal,” FDNY Deputy Assistant Chief Dean Koester wrote in a July 15, 2024, email to NPS official Minka Sendich.
“In fact, we reported that the nearest operable fire hydrant is 2500 – 3000 feet” from the shelter, Koester added, “and we estimate it will take about 30 minutes to establish a positive water source” in the event of a fire.
The hydrants also hadn’t received routine maintenance since the airfield was folded into the Gateway National Recreation Area in 1972, and no sprinklers were on site.
The “maze-like” condition of the sleeping arrangements inside the site’s five large tents also would have made it difficult for migrants to evacuate during an emergency, according to Koester.
“The lack of fire protection and dearth of nearby hydrants place shelter residents in a perilous situation,” he warned.
“Biden open border policies wreaked havoc on working-class families across the country, particularly in cities with large minority populations,” said James Fitzpatrick of the Center to Advance Security in America.
“Through aggressive public oversight, CASA obtained documents showing that Biden National Park Service officials kept thousands of illegal aliens crammed into Floyd Bennett Field despite knowing it was unsafe and preventing law-abiding New Yorkers from using the facility as it was intended.”
Months before the email from Koester, NPS officials had crowed about the “great work” being done by the feds in setting up the encampment.
“I toured the encampment yesterday and it appeared clean and well-run, albeit in cramped, bare-bones living conditions,” wrote NPS Gateway National Recreation Area superintendent Jen Nersesian on Jan. 9, 2024.
The missive also mentioned litigation against the city led by Democratic Assemblywoman Jaime Williams after asylum-seekers began panhandling in nearby neighborhoods — while parking luxury vehicles outside the park.
“My office has received numerous complaints from residents who are upset about excessive solicitation from migrants who are begging for money, food, and clothing,” Williams told Adams in a Jan. 8, 2024, letter.
“I have witnessed first-hand these incidents occurring and have reached out to the administrators who oversee the site and the response that I got back was that all of the needs of the migrants are being met inside the facility.”
The same day, Williams signed a letter alongside other Brooklyn and Queens officials warning that the park was turning into a “dumping ground which seems to be deteriorating faster than one could ever have imagined.”
Two days after Williams’ letters, James Madison High School students were booted from their classrooms after migrants took shelter in the school’s gym during a night of heavy wind and rain.
A House Republican-led committee found that the Floyd Bennett Field encampment was established following coordination between Adams, Biden White House senior adviser Tom Perez, and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul in August 2023.
Williams and reps for the NPS and Hochul’s office did not respond to requests for comment.
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