Saturday night, Colonie Town Supervisor Peter Crummey said migrants were coming to town, blaming the unexpected arrival on the city of Albany.
City of Albany leaders say that is untrue.
CBS6 reached out to Crummey for an interview Sunday but he was not available; we did speak with Albany mayor Kathy Sheehan.
MORE: Colonie town supervisor says migrants arriving this weekend
” The plan changed constantly; on Thursday it was, they were coming on Friday, then on Friday they were coming on Saturday,” Sheehan said. “My understanding on Saturday was that there were going to be two buses, one was going to go to wolf road and the other was going to come to a hotel here in the city of Albany that changed as the day progressed.”
Now that migrants are here- many are asking how they will be supported.
The Refugee & Immigrant Support Services of Emmaus (RISSE) is one of dozens of organizations helping in that support.
“We’re working on a way to best respond to the occurring situation and make sure we have a compassionate response here,” said Daniel Butterworth, RISSE Executive Director. “Throughout the Capital Region’s history we’ve got a robust resettlement, refugee resettlement here in the region.”
In a statement Saturday, Colonie Town Supervisor Crummey said the town was under-equipped to provide care to these migrants; but Mayor Sheehan says she’s been told NYC is filling the void.
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“I think it’s really important for people to understand financially, it doesn’t mean anything for the communities where these individuals are coming from,” she said. “This is part of an effort to reduce the overcrowding of homeless shelters in New York City so New York City is footing the bill for the hotels for all of the food for the health services and for the intake services for these individuals.”
Meanwhile, municipalities aren’t the only ones who need to be made aware of decisions.
“A lack of communication from downstate is also a big concern,” Butterworth added.
In his state of emergency issued last week Albany County executive Dan McCoy said direct communication is necessary as there are already 730 residents already in Albany County shelters. The direct communication with New York City mayor Eric Adam’s office is needed to prevent overcrowding in shelters.
RELATED: With shelters already near capacity, officials looking at alternate housing for migrants
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