The ongoing migrant standoff at a Manhattan hotel turned ugly Wednesday after a group of about 10 outside activists used open umbrellas to prevent the news media from documenting the scene.
The intervention prompted several migrants to angrily confront a journalist who was shooting a video for Dubai-based Al Arabiya TV, with one migrant hitting the camera and dislodging its small monitor unit.
Some of the 35 migrants gathered in front of the Watson Hotel in Hell’s Kitchen also shouted at other camera operators to try to intimidate them.
NYPD cops issued warnings but made no arrests.
The newshound whose camera was struck, Ghassan Masoud, said he’d never been treated so badly during a career that’s included coverage of the Iraq War.
“In 30 years, even in war zones, I’ve never experienced aggression like that,” Masoud said.
“I know their situation is bad. I just want to tell their story and they attacked me.”
Masoud, who usually covers the United Nations, described the migrants as “aggressive.”
“One migrant threatened to hit me with a broom, which is when the cops stepped in and told them I had every right to film,” he said.
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The migrants have been camped out on the sidewalk since the weekend when they were told to relocate to a new migrant processing center at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal in Red Hook.
City Hall has blamed activists from groups including “South Bronx Mutual Aid” for fueling the standoff, with mayoral press secretary Fabien Levy saying, “I don’t even understand the logic here.”
“Instead of encouraging asylum seekers to sleep in warm, indoor, temperature-controlled quarters at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal, these groups are telling migrants to sleep in tents on the streets,” he tweeted Monday. “The lack of reasoning here is astounding.”
On Tuesday, four migrants agreed to tour the processing center with city Immigrant Affairs Commissioner Manuel Castro — but decided they’d rather sleep outdoors and returned to the hotel sidewalk.
