It’s turning into a cat-and-mouse game between cops and rogue migrants on Randall’s Island.
NYPD and parks police officers stormed the Manhattan park for the second straight day on Thursday — breaking down what remained of an illegal migrant encampment and open-air market peddling drugs.
“We are stopping any illegal vending we see,” an NYPD inspector told The Post. “We’re taking away anything that’s going to lead to a dangerous condition — a few barbecues, a couple of propane bottles.
“This is going to take a while,” he continued. “We’re going to have to do this for some time to come.”
Cops busted one scooter-riding asylum seeker in the process.
Police said they also seized 11 mopeds, 11 empty tents, seven shopping carts, and shut down five illegal vending tables — while picking up trash and debris throughout the area.
But the defiant migrants not only jawed at New York’s Finest — they appeared poised to hoist their tents and tables once things cooled down, merely waiting out the show of force again.
“Inside Randall’s they don’t want to give shelter,” one migrant told The Post this week. “That’s why we live like this.”
Despite losing some of their merchandise, several migrants simply rolled up their tents and waited.
Cops first moved in on Wednesday to bust up a massive trash-strewn encampment outside the city-funded 3,000-bed mega-shelter on the island — with migrants camping out in at least 50 tents and peddling food, cigarettes and weed from a row of tables along a walking path.
On Thursday, more than 80 uniformed personnel — NYPD, FDNY and parks department cops and workers — converged on Randall’s Island shortly after 3 p.m.
Earlier in the day humanitarian workers contracted by the city showed up at the scene and tried to negotiate with the rogue migrant group, but left before the police showed up.
The workers, wearing uniforms labeled “Randall’s Island 2.0,” were hired by the city last year.
According to records, the city last year awarded Armand Corp. — a major city construction management consultant — a $695,000 emergency contract for “tent services” at the site.
Officials at City Hall did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the workers.
Later in the day, one migrant was placed in handcuffs after speeding over the Randall’s Island footbridge on a scooter, motoring into the contingent of police officers at the scene.
Meanwhile, cops spread out throughout the area and confiscated merchandise, in some cases handing the migrants plastic trash bags to collect things.
“No, you can’t live in the park,” one cop told a group of asylum seekers. “We can give you a black garbage bag to put all these belongings in, but you’re going to have to pack up this tent and leave.”
In January, police and parks workers repeatedly dismantled a much smaller encampment on Randall’s Island, only to have them set up again overnight despite repeated warnings.
