Joean Vasquez works on a construction site across the street from Brooklyn's newest migrant shelter. As an immigrant himself, Vasquez says he understands the draw of a place like New York City.

“It’s a good place to lay the foundation for your life, you know?” Vasquez told NY1.

In December, Mayor Eric Adams and his administration announced plans to open a 400-bed migrant shelter for single men in a manufacturing building near the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn.

Vasquez said he is concerned for what this will mean for his construction site and the local community.

“It’s not only about just bringing people. It’s too many people at once. We don’t have a plan for where we’re putting these people. We’re just putting them in one place,” Vasquez said.

According to city data, around 66,000 newly arrived migrants are being housed in shelters run by the city. Since the spring of 2022, the Adams Administration has opened 216 sites, including hotel shelters, to accommodate the influx.

“To have a 400-person shelter, for there to be no discussion from the community board, no attention or extra resources for the police department, seems crazy to us,” said Miles Pittman, an outspoken critic of the migrant shelter near the Gowanus Canal.

Pittman fears the shelter could have a negative effect on his community.

“The thing is, we don’t know because there’s been no community impact studies. With this low-density neighborhood, how does 400 men influence the neighborhood? We don’t really know that,” Pittman said.

For non-emergency sites, the city is required to give communities 30 days of notice, but a spokesperson for the city Department of Social Services said in a statement that “even though this is an emergency site, we have provided notice months in advance.”