Ex-NYPD cops and firefighters have been hired as around-the-clock “fire wardens” at some emergency migrant centers because of fears the sites could be deadly fire traps, law-enforcement sources told The Post.
The FDNY is compiling a list of the potentially problematic “respite centers” throughout the five boroughs as concerns grow that the asylum seekers they are temporarily housing are dangerously charging lithium batteries, using hot plates and overloading electrical outlets there, sources said.
Concerns are so great that if push comes to shove, a deputy FDNY department chief could shut down a center over conditions, sources said.
Security companies contracted by City Hall to patrol the centers have hired the “wardens” — including onetime city first responders — at about a dozen facilities to keep an eye on them 24/7 at $ 45 an hour, sources said.
“This is a dangerous situation for both migrants and firefighters who may have to respond to these locations,” a law-enforcement official said Tuesday.
“No location should ever lower the fire codes to house anyone,” the source said. “It is a recipe for disaster.”
The Big Apple has opened more than 200 locations to house the massive number of migrants flocking to the city from the US border with Mexico — including the respite centers, which are designed to offer temporary refuge but where migrants can find themselves longer, given the dire housing shortage.
More than 118,000 asylum seekers have arrived in New York City since the spring of last year, with some 60,000 still housed and fed in the city at local and state taxpayer expense.
While the bulk of the migrants are housed in city hotels and dorms, many also were shuffled into the respite centers — repurposed facilities that include former schools, gyms and even at the NYPD Academy.
While meant to be temporary alternatives, the FDNY fears that the centers are ill-suited for housing scores of migrants and warrant keeping a particularly close eye on, according to the sources.
Last month, the Big Apple’s new Office of Asylum Seeker Operations reached out to city workers to “encourage” them to work at the centers, with many municipal employees racking up overtime.
Sources said current NYPD and FDNY members were not recruited for the extra duty during their off-hours — but former first responders have been to conduct the constant unofficial fire and code inspections.
City Hall has not provided a complete list of current respite centers, but sources identified some of the sites where one-time gumshoes and smoke-eaters are on the scene.
The centers include the former St. Brigid Elementary School in Manhattan, St. Margaret Mary School in Queens and Richard H. Hungerford School on Staten Island, sources said.
Other sites are at the former Touro University and Lincoln Correctional Facility in Manhattan.
In a statement Tuesday, a rep for Mayor Eric Adams would not confirm that former first responders are monitoring the sites but said the FDNY inspects emergency sites “every single day.
“Asylum seekers have undergone long and arduous journeys before their arrival in New York City, and we are committed to keeping them safe while they are staying at emergency shelters,” he said.
“We include the FDNY in all fire protection measures were undertaken in our asylum seeker operations.”
Additional reporting by Craig McCarthy