If you grow it, they will come.
Migrants have planted themselves in a Long Island City community garden — transforming a once vibrant greenspace into a littered heap of beds, suitcases and human feces.
The situation at Smiling Hogshead Ranch on Skillman Avenue has gotten so bad a more and more migrants live on the site, that the organization came close to having the plot taken away by the MTA, which owns the property.
But the operators of the Queens ranch say there is little they can do as the immigrants are flowing in from an overcrowded nearby shelter and the property has no fence, gate or security. In fact, they say that it’s the MTA that should do more, as a major public institution.
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When The Post visited the garden — located on the abandoned tracks for the Degnon Terminal line — on Thursday evening, there were nine migrants huddled inside, including two men trying to sleep in the sub-freezing temperatures.
The pair, from Venezuela and Ecuador, say they frequently turn to Smiling Hogshead Ranch when the nearby Austell Place migrant shelter turns them away.
“They have strict opening and closing hours, and we kept coming back too late,” one man told The Post in Spanish.
“We were working … We work when we can. I sell Coca-Cola and water on the street.”
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A trove of suitcases, several bicycles, shopping cars, coolers and beer bottles were also littered around the plot.
The following morning, 24 other migrants showed up at the garden after spending the night at the shelter. With nowhere else to go, the men used the facility to cook their meals.
“You don’t want to sit here in the park. That’s not good for you or anyone. You want to go to work, get some money and get a place to live,” Aly, 30, from Senegal, told The Post.
According to Oja, the problem sprouted when the migrant shelter opened in August 2023 — but worsened in May when Mayor Eric Adams began enforcing 60-day shelter limits.
Group members have desperately called the MTA, for help — placing 57 calls to 311 to report the encampments, illegal dumping and more — but say most of the complaints were forwarded to homeless services to “die.”
Only once did the MTA take any concrete action, Oja said. In the spring, the agency plowed over a makeshift shelter that was erected on the outskirts of the site — while also erroneously tearing down a stage the garden had made for events.
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The MTA would not confirm if the piles of feces or the presence of the migrants were to blame for the threatened eviction.
The agency said it rescinded the eviction after Smiling Hogshead Ranch agreed to erect signs prohibiting fires, storage of personal property and entering the garden after dark.
“Due to a number of health and safety issues present at the Smiling Hogshead Ranch, a private garden located on property owned by the MTA Long Island Rail Road, the MTA required the licensee to agree to MTA and City personnel access to the garden on an as-needed basis,” Spokesperson Meghan Keegan told The Post.
Oja said the group was unaware of the good news when told by The Post Friday, and appeared pessimistic signs would fix the issue. Membership at the garden has plummeted over the past year.
When The Post visited Thursday, the sandbox had been covered with a carpet and two chairs, occupied by Ahmedu, 40, and Ahmed, 24, as they enjoyed a cup of hot tea.
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“We are not criminals. We are peaceful people,” Ahmedu said in Spanish.
“If they send me back, ok, I have my family there, my friends. It’s okay. We came to work.”
* Original Article:
https://nypost.com/2024/12/13/us-news/migrants-take-over-smiling-hogshead-ranch-in-long-island-city/?utm_source=smartnews&utm_campaign=nypost&utm_medium=referral