By Ed Hersh

Like many Upper West Siders, New York State Assembly Member Linda Rosenthal has watched the steady stream of asylum-seekers being bussed to New York City from our southern border states. They have been “tricked and essentially human trafficked,” Rosenthal told the Rag on Wednesday. “As a child of immigrants myself, I feel we have an obligation to help these people.”

Many UWS residents clearly share her concern. After Rosenthal announced that, beginning October 3rd, she would collect warm clothes and baby supplies for migrant families at her office on West 72nd Street, “I admit I was a little overwhelmed. I knew people would be generous, but it’s a sea of clothes and books.”  

That might be an understatement; when we visited the office every corner and surface seemed to be crammed with bags of donations from local residents and even, her staff told us, from as far away as Queens; her office estimates that at least 120 people have dropped off donations.

The city is scrambling to find shelter for the estimated 17,000 migrants that have been bussed in since April. Within Rosenthal’s district, there is a large group staying at the Skyline Hotel on 10th Avenue and 49th street, which is serving as a family shelter. According to the Daily News, “the Skyline Hotel houses around 200 families with children, and about 40% of the residents are recent migrants from the southern border, many of whom were bused to the city from Texas by Gov. Greg Abbott.”  Rosenthal believes there may be up to 100 newborn children among those families, many of whom are receiving care through Ryan Health, the local community health center. She says many of the older children have been assigned to nearby PS 111 and PS 51, which are struggling to cope with the influx of new students, most of whom do not speak English.

Rosenthal has been bringing the donated clothes and supplies to the Skyline and the schools for distribution and will continue to do so. “I think there has been an outpouring because people want to be of assistance, but they aren’t sure how,” she says. “We’ve gotten some really nice stuff: coats, sweaters, toys, books, even a crib.” The recipients — who arrive with only the clothes on their backs — are so grateful, she said. “You can see the desperation on their faces.”

Rosenthal’s donation drive ends next Friday, October 21st. You can drop off donations at her office at 230 West 72nd St, (Broadway and WEA), Suite 2F, until then. Next week, Assembly Member Danny O’Donnell, who represents the UWS north of 80th Street, will begin his own effort to help the migrant community, collecting toiletries, baby supplies, school supplies, winter wear, clothing, blankets, or backpacks at the Trinity Lutheran Church at 164 West 100th Street (Columbus and Amsterdam), on Wednesdays from October 26th-November 9th from 5pm-9pm, or on Saturdays from October 29th-November 12th from noon-5pm.

“The biggest resource we have is the kindness and generosity of New Yorkers,” Rosenthal said. As for the governors and officials who keep sending the migrants north without any notice or regard for the outcome, she said, “I think judgment day will come for them, to have treated humans so despicably.”