Upstate Democratic Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz said he’s refusing to accept any more migrants from New York City after two sexual assault incidents occurred at Buffalo-area hotels housing asylum seekers last week.
Poloncarz said his reversal came after learning the facilities are not safe, adding that Erie County’s “trust and good faith has been betrayed.”
The county executive said DocGo, a contractor hired by the Adams Administration to provide services to the migrants relocated upstate, “may have interfered” with the Cheektowaga police’s investigation in the second assault case.
DocGo had been the subject of complaints even before the latest incident.
“I demanded [New York City] Mayor [Eric] Adams pause all further transportation of asylum seekers to our community until such time as we can resolve all security issues,” Poloncarz said during a Saturday press conference posted by Spectrum News.
“He agreed and informed me they will not send any additional persons to Erie County at this time. We also discussed the need for a new and improved security plan.”
About 540 asylum seekers have been brought to Erie County, and officials are now calling on the asylum seekers to be removed from the hotels.
Authorities said an asylum seeker from the Democratic Republic of the Congo was arrested Friday and is being charged with sex abuse and unlawful imprisonment after allegedly sexually assaulting an employee inside the Best Western hotel in Cheektowaga near Buffalo Airport.
The bust came just days after another migrant from Venezuela, who also arrived from New York City, was charged with raping a woman in front of a 3-year-old child, at another Cheektowaga hotel.
“Erie County opened its arms to try to welcome these new Americans. Unfortunately we believe we can’t make the program, as it is presently run, sustainable without significant changes,” Poloncarz said.
“Our refugee agencies did their best to provide support and assistance. But our community’s trust and good faith has been betrayed,” he said.
The second victim was a 27-year-old female from Buffalo who was working at the Best Western and employed by Platinum Community Care, one of the agencies providing services to the migrants, said Cheektowaga Police Department Chief Brian Gould.
“I’m asking for the immediate discontinued use of the Best Western hotel on Dingens Street,” Gould reportedly said Saturday.
“The hotel is located in a residential neighborhood and is causing not only safety concerns to nearby residents, but also quality-of-life issues. I’m calling for extra funding to cover overtime shifts so that we can increase police presence in the community around the hotels.”
The second sex assault arrest in Erie County comes as Adams has struck a deal with Gov. Kathy Hochul to relocate 1,200 migrant families outside the Big Apple — the most substantial move by the state to take ownership of the crisis, The Post reported over the weekend
The 13 shelters outside the city will be staffed by the National Guard.
A rep for Adams said in a statement to The Post on Sunday, “As we’ve been saying for months, we are in the midst of a humanitarian crisis, having opened approximately 200 emergency sites to serve almost 100,000 asylum seekers that have arrived in our city.
“Every day, we receive hundreds of additional asylum seekers and we are out of space. 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.
“We are appreciative of all our partners across the state, especially in Erie County, who are stepping up and doing their part to meet the needs of asylum seekers,” the e-mailed statement said.
“This past week, we held a call with our counterparts in the state to discuss where we can move families with school-aged children as the school year approaches. As a result, we have been and will continue to make the necessary adjustments and movements with all of our populations to ensure we have the space necessary to meet the needs of families with children.”
