COLONIE, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- Two buses of asylum seekers arrived in Albany over the Memorial Day weekend. Meanwhile, the Colonie Town Supervisor is suing Albany and New York City following the arrival of a group asylum seekers to a hotel in the town Saturday.
Colonie Town Supervisor Peter Crummey claims Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan knew asylum seekers were going to the Sure Stay Plus Hotel by Best Western on Wolf Road before he was blindsided with the news Friday night.
“She was in the middle of it, not only saying 'don’t come here,' but she knew that Colonie was going to be the target," Crummey said, "and she didn’t even call me to say 'hey, guess what?'”
Sheehan denies that.
"I mean, Peter Crummey is just flat out wrong. The city of Albany has no control over this. We did not send migrants anywhere," Sheehan said. "We are mystified as to why the Town Supervisor has included us in the lawsuit over this.”
Sheehan is asking the judge to drop Albany from Crummey’s lawsuit.
Since the migrants came to Colonie, Crummey has emphasized the town’s hotel ordinance, which caps room occupancy at 28 days. He won a court injunction to keep more migrants from arriving.
Albany County Executive Dan McCoy previously issued an emergency order to prevent migrants from being housed in the county without a coordinated plan. He said New York City hasn’t been communicating.
“Saturday we were supposed to have a meeting, and they said 'nope, we’re not talking. You’re getting two busloads.' That’s not the way to operate," McCoy said, "we knew it was going to be an issue, and we wanted to avoid it, and they were well aware of the issues we were having, and they did it anyway.”
NEWS10 reached out to Mayor Adams’ office regarding the migrant housing situation in Albany County, and Crummey's lawsuit. A spokesperson sent a statement via email which read in part, “New York City has done and will continue to do its part, but we need counties, cities, and towns across the state to do their part as well, especially when New York City is willing to pay for shelter, food, and more.”
The two buses of migrants that arrived in Albany are being housed at the Ramada Plaza on Watervliet Ave. The total between there and the Colonie hotel is about 105.
Sheehan believes it will be at least a few days before more migrants arrive.
“That’s to give us the ability--the folks that are on the ground there--to do their intake and ensure that they have the information that they need to provide people the assistance to move forward with the asylum applications that these individuals are filing,” Sheehan said.
There will be a hearing on Colonie’s lawsuit against Albany and New York City on June 9th.
