City officials on Wednesday discovered a cramped commercial space housing dozens of migrants for the second day in a row.
FDNY and Department of Buildings officials were called to the building on E. Kingsbridge Road near Briggs Ave. in the Bronx just before 2:10 p.m. Wednesday to investigate reports of people living illegally in a shop.
Once inside, they found 34 beds crammed into the first floor and another 11 in the basement, according to officials and sources.
Several immigrants were at the site when authorities showed up Wednesday, according to CBS New York.
DOB inspectors also found e-bikes, space heaters, hotplates and extension cords on both floors of the store and issued a vacate order due to the “hazardous and life-threatening conditions,” a DOB spokesperson said.
The corporate landlord of the building was issued violations for failure to maintain the building and for occupying the building contrary to city records.
Also on Wednesday, a complaint was filed with the Department of Buildings that the landlord was charging $300 a month to live in the tightly packed space, records show.
The people living in the makeshift residence were sent to city Emergency Management to get shelter.
A man stood outside the shelter in the rain later that night trying to get his belongings that were inside. He’s been living in the store on and off for seven years, he said.
“He gave us a place to sleep,” the man said of the owner. “My brother called me to come get my luggage because the police were taking them out.”
The Senegalese man, who only identified himself as Alain, is hoping he’ll score housing at a Times Square migrant shelter.
“[The] owner charged me three hundred dollars but it was difficult to sleep because of the noise,” said Alain. “I’ve been trying to get out of here for months.”
A man who owns a fitness center in the neighborhood said men at the illegal shelter got memberships at his gym, where they would shower.
“There were a lot of Africans coming and going,” said the man, who asked not to be identified. “I didn’t realize that they actually lived there.”
The discovery came days after authorities shut down a similar illegal operation in Richmond Hill, Queens, where officials found about 40 mattresses and beds on both the ground floor and basement of a furniture store.
