New York’s mayor announced that the city would set up camps with hangar-sized tents in a Bronx neighborhood to house an influx of migrants sent to the city from southern border states.
Mayor Eric Adams announced Thursday that the city would open “humanitarian response and shelters” in response to the ongoing migrant crisis that is currently taxing the city’s reception system.
The number of migrants housed in shelters in New York City has risen to more than 10,000, the mayor said Sunday.
That’s on top of an additional 52,137 people housed in homeless shelters in the five boroughs, according to the most recent data from the Homeless Coalition.
As an example Earlier this week, a migrant from Colombia committed suicide at a homeless shelter in Queens, highlighting the pressure the system puts on individuals.
“This is not an everyday homelessness crisis, but a humanitarian crisis that requires a different approach,” Adams said Thursday.
The first designated shelter will be built in the Orchard Beach parking lot in Pelham Bay Park in the Bronx. The Orchard Beach site can accommodate 1,000 singles. The site will be climate controlled and weatherproof to operate throughout the winter.
Another facility will open shortly after Orchard Beach, the location of which has not yet been determined. The sites are designed to accommodate asylum seekers who cannot find immediate housing for 24 to 96 hours.
The facilities will provide asylum seekers with shelter, food, medical care and case workers to help them meet family across the country.
Buses carrying migrants are directed to go directly to Orchard Beach, or there from the Port Authority bus terminal.
“More than 100 years ago, Ellis Island opened its doors to welcome those who ‘crave to breathe freely,'” Adams said Thursday. “Now more than ever, it is clear that we are dealing with a human-made humanitarian crisis. While other leaders have abdicated their moral duty to support prospective asylum seekers, New York City refuses to do so.”
The mayor appeared to be taking a stab at Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who have expanded their posts on the southern border ahead of the November midterm elections.
Abbott began transporting migrants to cities like New York and Washington, DC. Last week Abbott sent a bus full of migrants to Residence of Vice President Kamala Harris at the US Naval Observatory in DC.
In the past, Adams called Abbott’s bus policy a “political stunt.”
“When we first discovered that the Texas governor was actually orchestrating this political showmanship, we reached out to the office and said, ‘Let’s coordinate this crisis together and figure out how we can tackle this together,'” Adams said in an interview. MSNBC last Sunday.
“They never coordinated. They kept sending the buses. Even last night we got at least six buses and that never happened. And that’s not how you handle a crisis. You tackle crises through coordination.’
Earlier this week, DeSantis used Florida money to fly a plane full of migrants from San Antonio, Texas, to Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts.
Multiple investigations have been opened into DeSantis’ now infamous flight, and several migrants have announced a lawsuit against the governor for misrepresenting where the plane was going.
However, some New York City proponents have already criticized Adams’ plan and the government’s lack of details about the rollout.
“We are very concerned about any scenario where families with children would be relegated to a gathering environment. This practice, which has been widely condemned for its adverse and dangerous impact on this particularly vulnerable population, is already subject to legal prohibitions,” The Legal Aid Society and the Coalition for the Homeless said in a statement. joint statement issued on Thursday.
The two groups said they received no response from the government when they confronted them with their concerns.
That said, we remain willing to work with the city to find a viable solution that meets New York’s legal and moral obligation to provide safe and adequate shelter for anyone seeking it, including asylum seekers.
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