Edited by: TJVNews.com
Now that New York City has become the popular destination for illegal immigrants who have been sent to the Big Apple by the governors of such southern states as Texas and Arizona, where to house them has become a hot button issue for the city’s mayor.
On Wednesday, New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced that the migrants will be receiving some pretty upscale accommodations. According to a report in the New York Post, the mayor will be providing shelter to hundreds of migrant families at the Row NYC hotel in the pricey Times Square area. He added that the ritzy hotel that normally accommodated well heeled tourists is being transformed into the latest “humanitarian relief center” to grapple with an influx of asylum seekers in the city, according to the Post report.
The Row NYC was formerly the iconic Milford Plaza hotel and the four star lodging will initially house 200 migrant families and will have the ability to take on even more in the coming weeks, Adams said, as was reported by the Post.
The hotel normally charges $400 a night to stat there and has over 1000 rooms available. It is not clear as to whether the New York City taxpayer will be footing the bill or if the federal government has stepped In to manage the financial end of things. In any event, federal funds are indeed taxpayer’s money, so it is anyone’s guess right now.
The Post reported that the Row NYC was once billed as being “in the center of it all”, so to speak. The report also indicated that the hotel is in the same district as Public School 33 in Chelsea. Parents of students who attend that school indicated to the Post that the school finds itself overburdened by the hordes of migrant students who are unable to speak or understand the English language.
Since May, 18,600 migrants have arrived in New York City as the immigration crisis is spiraling out of control, as was reported by the Post. Public School 33, at this juncture, has only one certified bilingual teacher and as the hotel fills to capacity that would translate into even more non-English speaking kids enrolling in the school, the Post reported. So far, 5,500 migrant kids have been enrolled in the city’s public schools.
“As the numbers of asylum seekers entering New York City continues to increase without an end in sight, the city’s family-focused Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Center will soon open to serve families with children and provide them with the care and compassion they deserve,” Adams said in a statement Wednesday, as was reported by the Post.
“Our team will continue to work with these families and assess if they want to actually stay in New York City and, if not, help them get to their desired destinations,” he added.
Last week, Adams declared a state of emergency over the migrant crisis, saying the demand being put on the city to provide housing and other assistance is “not sustainable,” according to an AP report.
“A city recovering from an ongoing global pandemic is being overwhelmed by a humanitarian crisis made by human hands,” Adams said, as reported by the AP. “We are at the edge of the precipice. … We need help. And we need it now.”
By the end of its fiscal year, Adams said the city expected to spend $1 billion helping the new arrivals, many of whom are heavily reliant on government aid because federal law prohibits them from working in the U.S., as was reported by the AP.
The administration did not specify what costs are being included in that amount.
“New Yorkers have always looked out for our immigrant brothers and sisters. We see ourselves in them. We see our ancestors in them,” Adams said. But, he said, “though our compassion is limitless, our resources are not.”
The AP also reported that New York City’s already strained shelter system has been under even greater pressure for much of this year because of the unexpected increase of those needing help.
The Post first revealed in August that the luxury digs would be converted into an intake center for hundreds of migrants — before the city abruptly scrapped the plan. The city didn’t explain at the time why the plan was axed, according to the Post report.
It wasn’t immediately clear when the hotel would open its doors to migrants.
The Post also reported that the city said the latest relief center would serve as an initial base for migrants arriving in the Big Apple to give them immediate shelter, food, medical care and other services.
A tent city relief center that is for adults only is slated to open soon on Randall’s Island, according to the city, according to the Post report. That facility had initially been planned to open at Orchard Beach in the Bronx, but was ditched due to flooding issues.
The AP reported that Adams said that city agencies are coordinating to build more humanitarian centers; fast-tracking New Yorkers from shelters to permanent housing, which would clear space for new arrivals to the city; and putting together a process for New Yorkers who have extra room to house those in need. (Additional reporting by: Fern Sidman)
