The Adams administration wants New Yorkers to get used to the idea that we will be housing human beings in tents for a little while.
On Thursday, the Mayor's Office released a statement that said the City would be building two large tent shelters, or "Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Centers"—one at Orchard Beach, and another at a location to be determined, to house the busloads of asylum seekers who are arriving here from Texas and other parts of the country.
The press release noted that the temporary shelters will provide people with "services" and can house them "approximately 24 to 96 hours (these times are subject to change depending on the situation)," but not much else. There was no press conference, and the mayor doesn't have a press conference on his schedule today either.
To prepare New Yorkers for the sight of people living in tents, City Hall released photos of what the shelters would look like.
NEW: @NYCMayor has announced the city will soon be opening humanitarian relief centers to support the hundreds of asylum seekers arriving in NYC daily.
Advocates, mutual aid groups, and some elected officials, who have picked up the City's slack to help asylum seekers, were appalled by the announcement from an administration that has made it clear they want to "reassess" New York's fundamental right to shelter law, and used words like "devastating," and "disturbing."
Our City is facing a mounting crisis. Many agencies are working around the clock to deliver care to the thousands of asylum seekers who have come through the Port Authority. But the decision to build what can only be described as a refugee camp is deeply disturbing. https://t.co/TSlBDci4Ym
The Mayor's Office objected when Bronx Mutual Aid invoked "concentration camps."
"Concentration Camps"?
This is SO offensive to asylum seekers, every victim of genocide & anyone with a shred of decency.
Asylum seekers are being treated with care & compassion through this humanitarian crisis.@SBXMutualAid should rescind these comments & apologize now. https://t.co/uepJd1Z8kc
Why is Adams building these shelters now, when there were thousands more people staying in temporary shelters in New York City just a few years ago? The Times has a good diagnosis of the problem: The City closed decrepit, inhuman temporary shelters faster than they can open new ones. Combine that with a severe shortage of actually affordable housing and voila, crisis.
The situation reminds us of something Eric Adams likes to say:
When people say being NYC mayor is the second hardest job in the country, "I say, when does the hard part start?" - @NYCMayor repeating one of his favorite lines during an appearance before business leaders at a Crain's New York Business breakfast
Eric Adams is bailing on Bill de Blasio's 3-K for all initiative, mostly because federal funding is drying up. If Bill could force the state to pay for pre-K, couldn't Adams do the same with 3-K? Or has New York City lost its swag?
The New York City Redistricting Council voted down new redistricting maps because apparently, incumbent politicians don't like surprises. Incredible democracy we have here.
Streetsblog's devastating look at how DOT vacancies are sapping a powerful agency of its effectiveness is a must-read.
Project Veritas is losing lawsuits but somehow they are still getting this teacher at Trinity School fired?
The guy who was arrested on Staten Island for patting Rudy Giuliani on the back and calling him a "scumbag" is suing the City for $2 million. Perhaps he'll settle for a parade in the Canyon of Heroes.