A game of cat and mouse is playing out between police and illegal immigrants on Randall’s Island.
New York Police and Park Police officers raided Manhattan parks for a second consecutive day on Thursday, busting what are believed to be illegal immigrant camps and the remains of an open-air drug market.
“We stop any illegal sales we find,” an NYPD inspector told The Post. “We confiscate anything that could lead to a dangerous situation — a couple of barbecue tackles, a couple of propane tanks.”
“This is going to take some time,” he continued. “We’re going to have to keep doing this for a while.”
In the process, police arrested one asylum seeker who was riding a scooter.
Police said they also seized 11 mopeds, 11 empty tents and seven shopping carts, shut down five illegal vending stalls and removed trash and debris from around the area.
However, the rebellious immigrants not only hurled foul language at their top leaders in New York, but also seemed ready to set up tents and tables and begin arming again once things calmed down.
“In Randalls, they don’t want to give us shelter,” one immigrant told The Washington Post this week. “That’s why we’re living like this.”
Some migrants simply folded up their tents and waited, despite losing some of their goods.
Police first went to the scene Wednesday to crack down on a large, trash-strewn encampment outside a massive, city-funded, 3,000-bed shelter on the island, where migrants had camped out in at least 50 tents and were selling food, cigarettes and marijuana at tables along the sidewalk.
On Thursday, more than 80 uniformed police officers, including officers and personnel from the NYPD, NYC Fire Department and Parks Department, converged on Randall’s Island just after 3 p.m.
Earlier in the day, city-contracted humanitarian workers were on the scene and attempted to negotiate with the group of illegal immigrants, but left before police arrived.
The workers, wearing uniforms that read “Randall’s Island 2.0,” were hired by the city last year.
Records show the city last year awarded a $695,000 emergency contract to Armando Inc., a large construction management consultant to the city, for “tent services” at the site.
City Hall officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the workers.
Later that day, one of the migrants was handcuffed after speeding across a Randalls Island pedestrian bridge on a scooter and crashing into a group of police officers on the scene.
Meanwhile, police were deployed throughout the area, confiscating goods and, in some cases, giving migrants plastic rubbish bags to collect.
“You can’t live in the park,” one police officer told a group of asylum seekers. “We can give you black garbage bags to put your belongings in, but you have to pack up your tents and leave.”
In January, police and park officials repeatedly removed a much smaller encampment on Randall’s Island, only for it to be set up again overnight despite repeated warnings.
