Suburb wins round in battle with city over immigrants

BY PETER KATZ Pkatz@westfairinc.com

New York City and governments in the Hudson Valley are battling in court and in public over the handling of asylum seekers arriving in New York City from southern border states and as of May 17 one of the suburban counties had won a round in court.

Orange County officials said they were blindsided when Mayor Eric Adams’ administration in New York City sent a busload of immigrants escorted by police and accompanied by security guards to the Crossroads Hotel in the town of Newburgh. It turned out that other immigrants from the city had been bussed to the Ramada by Wyndham, also in Newburgh. That was followed by the arrival of 14 immigrant families consisting of 34 people at the Ramada Inn on Tuckahoe Road in Yonkers.

By the early morning of May 18, a busload of 40 migrants had arrived in Sullivan County with at least another 40 on the way. They were transported to the Knights Inn in Liberty, New York. The chairman of Sullivan’s legislature, Robert Doherty, said they received less than 24hour notice from New York City that the migrants would be coming.

What's Next for Connecticut's Operation Fuel?

BY PHIL HALL Phall@westfairinc.com

Operation Fuel, Connecticut’s only year-round emergency energy assistance program, recently named Gannon Long as its chief program officer. In her new position, Long will manage Operation Fuel’s utility assistance and clean energy programs.

Long joined Operation Fuel in May 2020 as the organization’s first policy and public affairs director. The Business Journals recently spoke with her regarding the organization’s role after a winter of record-breaking heating and electricity costs burdened by Connecticut residents.

Congratulations on your recent appointment as Operation Fuel’s chief program officer. What are the duties and concerns that you are inheriting with your new job? Because if I’m not mistaken, I think there was a record number of Connecticut residents who were tapping into Operation Fuel this winter.

You’re definitely right about that. We’ve been around since the late 1970s, when Operation Fuel was founded as a response

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