New York City moving migrants into school gyms: Mayor Adams
Written by ABC Audio. All rights reserved. on May 16, 2023
(NEW YORK) — New York City is prepared to house asylum-seekers in as many as 20 schools with free-standing gyms, Mayor Eric Adams said Tuesday.
“This is one of the last places we want to look at. None of us are comfortable with having to take these drastic steps,” the mayor told NY1 on Tuesday. “Each gym, the 20 gyms that we are looking at, we have not made a final determination on all the gyms, but that we are looking at are separate from the actual school buildings. They are independent from the school buildings.
The mayor did not reveal all of the locations but the first six appear to be in Brooklyn.
At least 65,000 asylum-seekers have come through the city so far, including 4,200 last week alone, officials said. Adams said the city expects as many as 15 buses this weekend.
“I’m really calling on all of us to take notice that this is going to impact every city service that we deliver to the people of this city. And it’s just wrong. New York City should not be carrying a burden of a national problem.” Adams told Fox 5 in an interview on Tuesday. “Our goal is to manage a crisis that we’re facing in partnership with the entire state.”
The reception in the city’s northern suburbs has been mixed. In Westchester, three buses of about 40 adults with young children arrived at the Ramada in Yonkers last night. In Orange County, a hotel in Newburgh continues to accept asylum-seekers.
However, officials representing some New York suburbs have rebuked Adams’ plan to send migrants to their towns for shelter.
Rockland County’s top official declared a state of emergency on Saturday in response to Adams’ plan to send 340 adult male migrants to live at an Armoni Inn and Suites in Orangeburg, New York, for four months.
Following the lifting of Title 42 — a pandemic-era rule that allowed the easier expulsion of migrants — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has continued to bus migrants to major cities like New York. Local, state and city officials have voiced concerns about a lack of planning to accommodate the migrants as New York operates a shelter system above capacity and vows to send migrants to counties that have already declared a state of emergency.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul sent a letter to President Joe Biden Friday requesting assistance from federal agencies to house migrants on federal land in New York, including military facilities.
As of Friday last week, New York City is beyond capacity for its shelter system with over 36,700 migrants housed across 120 locations, according to Hochul. She added that with no more shelter space, 40% of “mid-level hotel stock” in New York City is used for short-term respite centers.
ABC News’ Quinn Owen, Peter Charalambous, Teddy Grant, Jaclyn Lee, and Christopher Donato contributed to this report.
Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
