Inundated with an influx of illegal migrants, New York City Mayor Eric Adams is working with Gov. Kathy Hochul on a plan to house 2,000 at a Randall's Island relief center.
The Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Center will handle a small fraction of the 57,200 asylum seekers currently in the care of the sanctuary city, according to a statement from the mayor's office Monday.
The state under fellow Democrat Hochul will reimburse the city for the costs of construction, maintenance, and staffing, according the statement.
"As the number of asylum seekers in our care continues to grow by hundreds every day, stretching our system to its breaking point and beyond, it has become more and more of a Herculean effort to find enough beds every night," Adams said. "We're grateful to Gov. Hochul and New York State for their partnership in opening this new humanitarian relief center and covering the costs, and we need more of the same from all levels of government.
"We will continue to work with the governor and elected officials across the state to address this crisis as New York City continues to do more than any other level of government."
The latest costs of building a 2,000-migrant facility are a result of the city's inability to keep up with its sanctuary city policy.
"The opening of the latest humanitarian relief center on Randall's Island demonstrates that the city will continue to meet its obligations, but it also shows that space continues to tighten," according to Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services Anne Williams-Isom. "As we have reiterated in recent weeks, all options for shelter space remain on the table. Thank you to Gov. Hochul and her team for working with us on this space and for stepping up to cover the associated costs."
New York City has more than 190 emergency shelters, including 13 other large-scale humanitarian relief centers. There are two other relief centers to open in the coming weeks.
Earlier this spring, the city released "The Road Forward: A Blueprint to Address New York City’s Response to the Asylum Seeker Crisis," detailing how the city will continue to manage the influx of asylum seekers and advocate for support from federal and state partners.
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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