Amherst, N.Y. (WBEN) - A tense Town Board meeting was held in Amherst on Tuesday. Some residents showed up to voice concerns over the recent transfer of migrants from Cheektowaga to Amherst.
One resident saying, "I think that Amherst should not be a garbage dump for people that are going to rape us."
Amherst Supervisor Brian Kulpa, appearing on WBEN on Wednesday, thinks misinformation is to blame.
"People are concerned," he said. "They're concerned about things they don't know. Uncertainty always leads to concern."
Kulpa said his job right now is to create a sense of certainty so that people understand what's happening.
For one thing, he noted that in the ten days since about 130 migrants moved into Amherst, there has been only one incident.
"The hotel that is housing asylum seekers used to see a decent amount of criminal activity and police calls, about every day and a half," he said. "We've had one issue since they moved in. Everything has calmed down. People are going to school and people are going about their lives and it's a non issue for us."
Kulpa reminded residents that the town did not go looking for the situation.
"We've been handed something to deal with and the Town of Amherst is rising to the occasion."
The neighboring Town of Cheektowaga has taken legal action, including filing a temporary restraining order to stop New York City from sending any more such migrants to Cheektowaga.
Kulpa said he is not planning to do the same. "I'm not sure how that would actually hold up if it went to a higher court." He likens it to telling a business who they can and cannot rent hotel rooms to.
"What this really boils down to," he said, "is that there's a healthy amount of fear mongering out there."
The supervisor is hoping the federal government will get a sense of urgency to get the migrants through asylum hearings, as Congressman Nick Langworthy suggested, or into jobs and productivity like Governor Kathy Hochul requested. He said he would take either one of those scenarios at this point.
