New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced on Saturday that the city’s cruise ship terminal will temporarily be used as a migrant shelter and intake center to help address the unprecedented influx of asylum-seekers.
The Brooklyn Cruise Terminal will be able to house, and provide food, medical care, and other services for 1,000 single men until the spring, the mayor’s office said in a press release.
“Our city is at its breaking point,” said Adams, who has requested federal and state assistance to address the large number of migrants that have been arriving from southern states to the Big Apple since the Spring.
“We continue to surpass both our moral and legal obligations and meet the needs of people arriving in New York, but as the number of asylum seekers continues to grow, we are in serious need of support from both our state and federal governments,” the mayor said.
So far, 41,000 asylum seekers have arrived in New York since April and more than 28,000 are being taken care of by the city, overwhelming the city’s shelter system. In response, the city has set up five “Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief” centers and has been using around 77 hotels as emergency shelters.
The city has previously attempted to build an influx center at a parking lot in the Bronx but was quickly shut down amid concerns about storm flooding. The mayor’s office also built a complex of tents on Randall’s island, but it was also closed three weeks later after migrants failed to arrive.
Last week, Mayor Adams visited El Paso, Texas, where many of the migrants are boarding buses headed to New York City. During his visit, Adams met with El Paso city and county officials, including Mayor Oscar Leeser to see the impact that the surge in migration has had in the region and the local community.
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