NYC pizzeria defends feeding migrants

A Staten Island pizzeria owner pushing back against those criticizing for offering to feed migrants who come to his restaurant.

Sebastian Bonviovanni, owner of Verde’s Pizza and Pasta House, told Fox 11 that they began showing up around 10 days ago. Some migrants arriving in the city from the U.S.-Mexico border are being housed at a nearby hotel.

"They said they hadn't eaten in three days and when we fed them, they ate like they hadn't eaten in three days," Bongiovanni said in an interview Thursday.

The migrants’ arrival divided in his neighborhood of Travis, which voted overwhelming for former President Donald Trump in the last two presidential elections, according to Fox 11.

Bongiovanni says he has received calls from area residents telling him to stop feeding the migrants but continues due to his Roman Catholic faith.

He said, "We're Republican, and we feel there should be a border and we should, you know, there should be an orderly way... A lot of people feel these, these migrants are overstepping the line, jumping the line, and I totally get that... I'm Catholic first and, you know, listen, if I can help people, I will."

In addition to offering food to those who show up at his shop, he is delivering pizza to the hotel after receiving donations to help him cover the costs of his charity.

The Republican governors of Texas and Arizona have been sending new arrivals at the southern border north to Democrat-led cities since April after months of inaction from the Biden administration on the heavy flow.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has accused New York City Mayor Eric Adams of hypocrisy for singling-out his migrant relocation program while ignoring those of his Democratic peers like President Joe Biden and the mayor of El Paso.