Court sides with Niagara County on change of venue

Submitted by the Public Information Office

Statement from Niagara County Majority Leader Randy Bradt on decision from Supreme Court of State of New York regarding Niagara County’s executive order on relocation of migrants:

“As most people know, Niagara County has been sued by New York City regarding our executive order relating to New York City’s attempt to send migrants and asylum seekers to counties and towns across New York, housing them in hotels. Niagara County has maintained New York City’s plan to house migrants in hotels in our community would drain limited resources, place a burden on property taxpayers and have an overall negative economic impact on our community. These consequences, of course, are of no interest to New York City, which seeks to shift its migrant problem, one that it had a significant hand in creating, to other communities.

“Thankfully, yesterday a New York State Supreme Court judge in Manhattan agreed with our motion to move the court case out of New York City to Niagara County. Furthermore, the judge left intact our motion to dismiss New York City’s lawsuit for determination by the Supreme Court in Niagara County.

“These decisions will force New York City to confront the merits of our position and the adverse potential impacts of their policy in a courtroom in Niagara County. As we have said right from the beginning, we are not without compassion for migrants, many who have traveled tremendous distances and faced great hardship, but this issue cannot fall on local communities like ours who lack the resources to address it.”