Compelled by the kind of transparency he would expect of the local and federal governments, Lloyd police chief James Janso shared the details of an apparent plan by the City of New York to house 100 male immigrants in a hotel along Route 9W with taxpayers, residents and community members. He indicated that he had been alerted to the possibility by other law-enforcement agencies he declined to identify.
Were these were state or municipal law-enforcement agencies? Janso demurred. He said his office and the unnamed agency share information all the time.
“Whatever we need to discuss in our community,” said Janso. “It’s just one of those everyday things that we do. They said, ‘Hey, you know they may be placing people in your jurisdiction. They’d tried it over in this jurisdiction.’ So we went out to the hotels that we figured had enough occupancy that it could be a possibility.”
Janso alleged that representatives of the City of New York had attempted to place the migrants at the Sure Stay on Route 9W. Hotel management had squashed the attempt after becoming suspicious about who the lodgers might be.
“Somebody approached them about putting asylum-seekers there,” said Janso.
An employee working the front desk on Friday expressed surprise at the news, claiming to know nothing about it.
Rising flood of immigrants
Queried about the alleged attempt to board the asylum seekers, General manager of the Sure Stay Hotel Dorothy Riley responded.
“I appreciate your inquiry,” wrote Riley, “however, until I speak to my employer regarding contact with media, I am not in a position to answer your questions at this time.”
According to Janso, the representatives of New York City weren’t forthcoming with who the people were until the management started asking.
“So there actually was not transparency on the individuals’ part,” said Janso. “And the hotel did refuse them.”
Janso said he had informed the town supervisor David Plavchak of what he had learned, Janso anticipated it might be a while before Plavchak released a statement. “He’s on vacation, I believe,” said Janso, “so you’ll probably have to wait a little bit.”
In his statement, chief Janso noted that his job responsibilities included informing the community of the possible influx of asylum-seekers. “What I have been told is that there is nothing legal that can be done at this time to stop the placements of asylum-seekers in our town,” he said. “All that can be done is to inform our residents of what may be forthcoming.”
And this Janso has done.
Janso encouraged anyone who was concerned to reach out and share their concerns with the county government and their state representatives
“As a police department, we welcome everyone into our town,” said Janso. “However, with no communication or transparency from NYC on their intentions of housing any asylum-seekers in the Town of Lloyd, [they] are wrong. Period!”
New York City mayor Eric Adams’ press office has been asked for comment.
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