Mayor Eric Adams says New York City no longer has room to shelter asylum seekers
NEW YORK -- There are new developments in New York City's struggle to house recently arrived asylum seekers.
Mayor Eric Adams said Wednesday the city has been carrying the weight of the nation's crisis and now there is no longer space for new people coming in, citing the absence of state or federal aid.
He said he has put a plan in place that will begin in the next couple of days to help move current migrants out of shelters to make space for families arriving with children.
Watch Naveen Dhaliwal's initial report
With an average of 300 to 500 people still arriving daily, the mayor said the city will begin providing 60-day notices to adult asylum seekers who are already in shelters to find alternate housing.
They will be paired with a case worker to discuss options and plan next steps.
If adult asylum seekers are not able to find alternative housing within the 60-day period, they will be required to reapply for a new placement.
The mayor said his priority is to provide shelter for arriving families with children. With federal funding depleted, city officials say they are at the end of their rope.
"This is the only way we can make critically needed space for families and children. We don't want to reach the point, and we won't reach the point, where families and children are living on our streets, like you're seeing in other municipalities. For the sake of our city, state and country, the sake of those who have arrived and who will continue to arrive, we will become committed and dedicated like we have," Adams said.
The mayor is also planning to distribute new flyers at the border to combat misinformation and inform asylum seekers that the city cannot continue to support the level of service it has been providing.
The Legal Aid Society responded by saying limiting shelters is not the option, adding the city should address the need for more shelters.
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Hours after arriving Wednesday, asylum seekers CBS New York spoke to were still waiting only to have the shelter doors slammed on them.
"They are telling us to go find somewhere to go. Where are we gonna go with no money?" Manuel Rodriquez told CBS New York in Spanish. "We don't want to sleep on the street."
Those in the latest group arriving to the Roosevelt Hotel, a city-designated arrival center for asylum seekers, were handed unexpected notices saying there was no housing for them.
"I didn't say anything. They left me silent. 'Just go over there. There's no shelter or space for anyone,'" Villy Ray Crofford said in Spanish.
"Right now, we have no space, so wherever they can wait, they are waiting," Adams said.
"Our compassion is infinite, but our space is not," said Ted Long, vice president of ambulatory care and population for New York City Health + Hospitals.
Jesus Ramos, a New Yorker helping asylum seekers, says for those waiting with nowhere to go, "They are all uncertain. They don't know what's going on. They don't know what's going to happen to them."
Opponents to the mayor's plan say the city has a legal obligation to provide people with shelter that is safe and secure, and they say the city should be addressing the need for increasing shelter capacity.