Over 80 migrants — most from Senegal — illegally living in NYC basement

More than 80 migrants have been living in a cramped basement below a vegan restaurant in South Richmond Hill, Queens — where beds are so in-demand that only half can sleep there at one time, city officials said Tuesday.

Fire prevention inspectors discovered the illegal subterranean boarding house Monday when they were called to 132-03 Liberty Avenue to investigate reports about a large collection of e-bike batteries, according to the FDNY.

That’s when they found 40 migrants sleeping in the building’s basement — and realized that the true number of inhabitants was actually twice that.

“A further probe revealed that up to 80 individuals have been living there, taking turns to sleep due to the limited space available,” fire officials said, adding that it issued a vacate order for the building.

The building owner, Ebou Sarr, 47, told WPIX that he was charging migrants $300 per month to live in his little hostel.

Most of the migrants are from Senegal, he said, claiming he was giving them breakfast, lunch and dinner.

“The city is saying that they have no place for these people,” Sarr told the network, which first reported on the setup. “It’s not true.”

Inspectors from the city Department of Buildings found that the first-floor commercial space and the cellar had been illegally converted into a makeshift bunk house replete with 14 bunk beds and 13 regular beds packed together on both floors, officials said.