|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Adams Considering Queens Locations for Emergency Tent Cities for Migrant Influx
By: Jim McGuire
As reported by the NY Post, the Adams administration is eyeing the Aqueduct Racetrack and Creedmoor Psychiatric Center in Queens as new locations for tent cities. On Sunday, City Hall officials announced the possibility. “As the mayor has said, all options are on the table as we deal with this crisis and no humanitarian relief centers are final until announced,” said an Adams spokesperson on Sunday. “With over 53,000 asylum seekers currently in the city’s care, we need additional support from state and federal partners.”
Queens Borough President Donovan Richards was notified on late Saturday that officials would be touring both sites this week, he told the Post. If they approve the sites, the encampments could open at Aqueduct and Creedmoor by the end of July, Richards said. Each of the two tent cities could house 1,000 migrants. Gov. Kathy Hochul would also have to approve the plans for Aqueduct and Creedmoor, as they are both on state property.
Many of the hotel airports in Queens, near JFK and LaGuardia, have already been converted into migrant shelters. Richards, a Democrat and Adams ally, said his borough has been doing its part to help place the asylum seekers. He noted some frustration, however, saying there needs to be better coordination and communication between City Hall and Queens elected officials. “How many migrants are in Queens? I can’t get a breakdown”, he said. “I understand we are in a crisis. I’m not playing the NIMBY game here,” Richards added, referring to the acronym for the phrase “Not In My Backyard,” used to refer to those who oppose undesirable developments in their neighborhoods.
“The city must also leave no stone unturned to ensure the safety of all involved — both the surrounding communities and those housed at the sites alike — and ensure that there is adequate local transportation for our asylum seekers who need to travel elsewhere,” Richards said. He also suggested that to make the plan sustainable the Biden administration would need to speed up the time period for allowing migrants to obtain employment.
The city has already set up 186 emergency sites set up across the five boroughs, with two more mega shelters opened last week. There are over a whopping 53,000 migrants now housed in the city– bringing NYC’s total shelter population to a record-breaking 103,400 people — topping the shelter population in most American cities. Adam’s administration estimates a $4.3 billion price tag for the shelters by the end of the next fiscal year. That estimate includes contracts with security firms to keep the sites safe.
Per the Post, Adams’s team has also been eyeing empty school facilities that can be used over the summer while schools are closed. City Hall, however, had previously faced heavy criticism in May when it placed migrants in 20 NYC school gyms. Adams has also been looking into empty office space. In the meantime, the administration has also ordered migrants to be sent to hotels in Hudson Valley and upstate NY.
