Gov. Kathy Hochul Addresses Report Stony Brook Is A Possibility For Migrants

STONY BROOK, NY — Gov. Kathy Hochul responded to reports that Stony Brook University and other SUNY campuses could be used as receiving sites for migrants from New York City in a press briefing on Wednesday.

NY1 reported a source said the college's campus is one of three, including the universities of Albany and Buffalo, that are part of a plan in which dormitory space — totaling 1,500 beds — would be used to house migrants.

The announcement could come as soon as next week, the source told the outlet.

When asked to confirm the report, Hochul said state officials are examining an inventory of sites, including closed facilities and psychiatric centers, large parks, parking lots, and college campuses.

"I can confirm that as I've said for a number of days and weeks, that we are looking at all state assets to help ameliorate the problem that is at a crisis level here in the City of New York," she said. "So, yes, SUNY campuses are a part of the inventory of what we're looking at, as well as closed facilities, closed psychiatric centers, large parks, parking lots."

"So, as soon as we've done all of our due diligence and make sure that locations are appropriate, we'll be happy to share that with the public," she added.

When pressed, Hochul did not specifically address the possible use of Stony Brook's campus.

Instead, she said, "We're looking at many SUNY campuses right now, and again, there's a sense of urgency, so we'll be announcing very soon an offering to [Mayor Eric Adams] which sites," she said. "We have to make sure that they'll work; the timing works; the students are gone. And then we'll be able to talk to the mayor and his team about what use they want to have."

A Stony Brook spokeswoman did not comment.

SUNY's chancellor's office referred a reporter to Hochul's office.

State Sen. Anthony Palumbo, a Republican whose district includes Stony Brook, as well as Stony Brook Southampton, told News 12 that his office has received numerous calls from constituents about the possibility of migrants coming to the university.

Palumbo has not confirmed migrants will be sent to the school's dormitories but he is concerned in the event it happens, the outlet reported.

"We don't even fingerprint or have any clue who these undocumented migrants are. Yet you're going to put them in a dorm or on the same campus as our children? No, thank you," he said.

Meanwhile in Hauppauge, a vote of the Suffolk County Legislature to hire legal counsel to block migrants from being sent to the county was held off as immigration advocates held a news conference denouncing the move, Newsday reported.

Jessica Greenberg, the legal services director of the immigration legal services provider, CARECEN, which has offices in Hempstead and Brentwood, told the outlet, "As New Yorkers, we know this and we are proud of it.”

Presiding Officer Kevin McCaffrey, a Republican from Lindenhurst, told the outlet, "There's nothing that is happening right now that leads us to believe we have to take immediate action."

Claims that migrants could be shipped to locations in Riverhead prompted Supervisor Yvette Aguiar to declare a State of Emergency.

It was based on information received and in response to reports that the city's Department of Homeless Services has, or will arrange for, the transportation and relocation of undocumented migrants and/or asylum seekers to hotels or motels within the town, officials said.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams or a representative of his reached out to Riverhead motels and hotels to assess their availability for delivering migrants, according to Aguiar.

The Suffolk County Supervisors' Association released a statement on Wednesday saying that its members want "it understood that the issue regarding migrants and their placement in New York State is the sole responsibility of our federal government officials…the President, and both houses of Congress."

"They all need to step up, stop finger-pointing, and finally, figure out how to handle this issue," the statement continued. "Fix the system like we have been asking them to do for years. It should not, and cannot be left to local governments to shoulder this burden, or take on the responsibility for this issue.”

A spokesperson for Brookhaven Supervisor Ed Romaine told Patch he stood by the statement released by the association.

Southampton Supervisor Jay Schneiderman said "the gist" of the statement is that it says "to the federal government, 'This is your job, not our job.'"

But he wondered if the association was not getting ahead of itself.

In a conversation with Hochul that morning, Schneiderman said he was told that there were no plans to ship migrants to the East End.

For him, the other issue is, "Are we chasing something that doesn't exist," he wondered.

County executives Steve Bellone and Bruce Blakeman have previously said that Adams' administration has not asked to house migrants in Suffolk or Nassau.

Lisa Finn contributed additional reporting to this story.