Mira Wassef is a digital reporter who has covered news and sports in the New York City area for more than a decade. She joined PIX11 News in 2022. See more of her work here.
QUEENS, N.Y. (PIX11) --- A Queens man caught housing dozens of migrants in the basement of his small furniture store sympathizes with their plight because he used to be them.
Ebou Sarr, 47, who came to New York City from Senegal 30 years ago, thought he was helping the 74 Senegalese migrants who were living in his business, Sarr's Wholesale Furniture, because he remembers how hard it was living in shelters and on subways when he first came to the United States, he said.
"They're my people. I have to do something about it, so I started taking them in," Sarr tearfully said in an interview with PIX11 News Tuesday.
Authorities conducting an inspection found 87 people living in the basement of the furniture store at 32-03 Liberty Ave. in Richmond Hill at around 11:40 p.m. Monday, according to law enforcement sources. The FDNY said a complaint about an e-bike in the backyard prompted an investigation into the building. The people were moved to a migrant shelter in the Bronx, sources said.
“We’re still investigating exactly what happened here," Mayor Eric Adams said Tuesday.
Sarr said he was charging the migrants $300 a month to live in the building while also providing meals, including breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The basement was cluttered with mattresses and bunk beds while the backyard was littered with delivery bikes, according to video and photos from the scene. Fire officials said they found approximately 40 beds on the ground floor and in the cellar.
The businessman said he was also looking into buying commercial properties to house the migrants because the city wasn't doing enough to help.
"There are a lot of people who came to this country and needed places to stay because they're kicking them out onto the streets," Sarr said. "The city is saying that they have no place for these people. It's not true."
Sarr has not been charged with any crimes.
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. The FDNY found numerous fire hazards and the New York City Emergency Management Department is helping people get further assistance, sources said.
Mira Wassef is a digital reporter who has covered news and sports in the New York City area for more than a decade. She joined PIX11 News in 2022. See more of her work here.