Legal Aid attorneys taking aim at Gov. Kathy Hochul as asylum seeker crisis continues
NEW YORK -- Tuesday marked another day of crisis as more asylum seekers arrived in the city, packing the sidewalks near The Roosevelt Hotel in search of scarce shelter space.
Meanwhile, Legal Aid Society officials slammed Gov. Kathy Hochul for not doing enough and threatened legal action.
Mayor Eric Adams wasn't kidding when he said the city's ability to deal with the asylum seeker crisis is going only one way -- "downhill." But now, Legal Aid officials are saying it's not only a city problem but a state problem, and the governor needs to step up to the plate.
"Kathy Hochul has only barely begun to look at this problem and has not brought the resources of the state to assist the city, but also to address the obligations that the state has to provide shelter and aid and care to the people who need it," Legal Aid staff attorney Joshua Goldfein said.
Speaking as the latest wave of asylum seekers arrived in the city, Goldfein joined others packed like sardines in a fenced-in holding pen outside the Roosevelt, waiting for the city to find some space, any space, for them to live. Some have been there for days.
"It's heartbreaking to see in New York City, a sanctuary city that has welcomed people for so many generations," Goldfein said.
READ MORE: Critics say asylum seeker chaos outside The Roosevelt Hotel is by design
Mayor Adams has opened nearly 200 facilities for asylum seekers, but with President Joe Biden refusing to act, the spotlight is now on the state, which also has a constitutional obligation to provide shelter and care.
Advocates say the governor's actions -- opening facilities at a Harlem jail, a hanger at John F. Kennedy International Airport, and approving the use of the parking lot at the Creedmoor psychiatric center in Queens, which has yet to open -- are just not enough. They want more.
"But if that doesn't happen and very soon to alleviate the kinds of suffering we're seeing on the streets, you know, right next door to Grand Central, then we would have to take legal action," Goldfein said.
At an upstate housing event, Hochul insisted she is doing everything she can, including providing 2,000 National Guard members to help.
"I have been in contact with the federal government literally every day of the week for a very long time. They've promised they've directed the GSA -- the General Services Administration -- to find surplus properties for us," the governor said.
Hochul echoed Adams in insisting that the number one answer would be for the Biden administration to give the asylum seekers work permits.
"If they can have the ability to work legally, it will change the whole dynamic," Hochul said. "Just allow us to have a change instead of having to wait 180 days. If we can get 30-day work authorization, that would change everything like this."
The governor said that she and Mayor Adams first asked the White House for work authorization a year ago, when there were only 10,00 asylum seekers. Now, there are nearly 100,000.