The number of migrants arriving in New York City seeking shelter continued to grow, prompting Mayor Eric Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul’s offices scramble to prepare new emergency shelters at an old Harlem jail and an airport warehouse.
The Big Apple is already bursting at the seams to house roughly 45,800 asylum seekers – or half the city’s total shelter population – are spread between 170 emergency sites throughout the five boroughs, according to City Hall.
The eight-story Lincoln Correctional Facility on West 110th Street opened on Thursday for single adult men – meaning no families – and can accommodate about 500 people, Eyewitness News reported.
City officials confirmed there are no longer cells inside the building, which was closed by former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in 2019, the outlet said.
In addition to the Lincoln Correctional Facility, Mayor Adams’ administration is awaiting federal approval to open a warehouse at John F. Kennedy International Airport that has reportedly been stocked with about 500 cots.
The warehouse is ready to accommodate up to 1,000 asylum seekers as soon as the city gets the green light from the Federal Aviation Administration, a source said on an internal call between City Hall and City Council Friday morning.
“We are working with one of the airport hangars at JFK to create large space there. So we’re focused on people having access to housing closer to the services and the community that they’ve already come with,” Gov. Kathy Hochul confirmed at a press gaggle on Friday.
“We have 300 individuals dispersed throughout New York, compared to the 72,000 that are being housed in New York City right now,” she added.
Desperate lawmakers are also rumored to be considering using the iconic Flatiron Building as a migrant shelter, in addition to discussions about potential tent encampments in Central Park.
On Friday afternoon, a bus of new arrivals pulled up in front of the Lincoln Correctional Facility, while processing occupied most of the sidewalk.
The facility appeared to only be accommodating migrants that were bused to New York City and registered there.
Asylum seekers from elsewhere were turned away.
“I don’t see a problem with it, we all got here a different way and some people just need help. Most people in the neighborhood don’t have a problem with it,” local Raul Jackson told The Post of the new shelter.
“You can’t kick people when they’re down.”
The grandson of the owner of a nearby deli said he was “indifferent” to the migrants’ arrival, noting that he himself is Hispanic.
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New arrival Ruilber Ferrer, who got to the facility on Thursday, told Eyewitness News that he was grateful to have a roof over his head after an arduous journey from Venezuela.
“I’m very happy to be here, I always wanted to explore the United States,” he said, noting that he left his three-year-old daughter behind in order to start a better life for his family.
“I dream of owning my own barbershop and giving my daughter what I couldn’t have.”
Some critics, however, say the city is not putting its money toward the correct resources.
More than 99 percent of the money spent on the migrant issue has gone to emergency shelters, while less than one percent contributed to legal aid, the city comptroller’s report revealed.
“It’s been more than a year since the first asylum seekers arrived in New York City, and we still haven’t filled a contract for legal services, clearly, $5 million isn’t enough,” NYC Councilmember Shahana Hanif told Eyewitness News.
News of New York City’s ongoing struggle to accommodate the new arrivals comes as other parts of the state agitate to prevent the crisis from crossing into their areas.
On Thursday, the Suffolk County Legislature voted 11-6 to hire a lawyer to look into how the county can block migrants being sent there.
While Hochul previously confirmed that SUNY campuses are being considered for migrant housing, she has remained tight-lipped on whether the Stony Brook location is up for grabs.
The New York Civil Liberties Union was also in court on Thursday in connection with a lawsuit against Rockland and Orange counties, both of which have issued executive orders to block migrants, Eyewitness News said.
The NYCLU argues that the orders are unconstitutional because they target migrants due to national origin, the outlet explained.
Hochul said Friday that she was hoping the state would be more “generous and…welcoming.”
“And we have some counties that are in that vein, and I’m really proud of them, and others that are not so much,” she acknowledged.
“It could be a great opportunity for us to embrace people, help them get the work permits, which is my top priority. We get people these expedited work permits. I guarantee the farms not far from here and the hotels and the restaurants, they’ll have the workforce that they’ve been begging for…it’s a chance for New York to show who we really are.”
