A large migrant encampment at Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn, operated under the Biden administration, was found to be a fire hazard and described as a deteriorating "dumping ground," according to emails reviewed by government watchdogs. The site, which housed about 2,000 migrants from November 2023 until January 2025, was closed by then-Mayor Eric Adams after concerns mounted over safety and living conditions.
Employees of the National Park Service (NPS) who worked at the site were reportedly aware of significant fire safety risks but relayed to superiors that the encampment was “clean and well-run,” according to documents obtained by the Center to Advance Security in America. An internal email from FDNY Deputy Assistant Chief Dean Koester dated July 15, 2024, highlighted that the nearest functioning fire hydrants were located 2,500 to 3,000 feet from the shelter and noted it could take firefighters approximately 30 minutes to establish a water source in the event of a blaze.
Koester’s email also raised concerns about the layout inside the facility’s five large tents, describing the sleeping arrangements as “maze-like,” which could impede swift evacuation during emergencies. He emphasized the absence of sprinklers and a lack of maintained fire hydrants, stating that the conditions posed “a perilous situation” for shelter residents. The hydrants had not received routine maintenance since the airfield became part of the Gateway National Recreation Area in 1972.
Critics, including James Fitzpatrick of the Center to Advance Security in America, linked these conditions to broader immigration policies, asserting that the situation disrupted working-class communities and limited public use of the historic site. Fitzpatrick contended that officials knowingly housed thousands of migrants in unsafe conditions while preventing local residents from accessing Floyd Bennett Field as intended.
Earlier in 2024, however, NPS officials conveyed a more positive assessment of the encampment. On January 9, 2024, Jen Nersesian, superintendent of the Gateway National Recreation Area, described the facility as “clean and well-run,” though cramped with basic living conditions. That same period saw local elected officials raising alarms about the impact of the encampment on surrounding neighborhoods. Democratic Assemblywoman Jaime Williams reported receiving numerous complaints about migrants soliciting food, money, and clothing in nearby communities, a situation that she said contributed to ongoing litigation against the city.
Williams and other Brooklyn and Queens representatives cautioned that the site was becoming increasingly neglected, warning of rapid deterioration. Shortly after these warnings, James Madison High School had to relocate students from classrooms when migrants sought shelter in its gym during severe weather.
A House committee investigation found that the establishment of the encampment involved coordination between Mayor Adams, White House senior adviser Tom Perez, and New York Governor Kathy Hochul in August 2023. Requests for comment from Williams, the NPS, and Hochul’s office were not returned.