New York City officials face new problem amid asylum seeker crisis as shelters get cited for fire code violations
NEW YORK -- As more asylum seekers arrive in New York City, Mayor Eric Adams faces more hurdles finding them housing.
A number of migrant shelters now have to be closed because the fire department says they're fire traps
When it comes to the migrant crisis, it often seems like the mayor is between a rock and a hard place. The rock? More asylum seekers arriving every day. The hard place? Some of the shelters are less than ideal.
Still, wringing information from city officials about closures is often difficult.
- Related story: Asylum seekers moved from St. John Villa Academy shelter on Staten Island over fire code violations
"I wonder if you can tell me how many of the shelters that have been inspected by the fire department have raised concerns about health and safety," CBS New York political reporter Marcia Kramer asked city officials Tuesday.
A simple but important question since in the last few days, fire code violations forced the city to close the St. John Villa Academy shelter on Staten Island and two others -- the Richard H. Hungerford School on Staten Island and St. Agnes Catholic School in College Point, Queens.
Now, it seems more will have to be shut.
"I believe we have approximately three locations that the fire department did a reassessment and stated that they had to vacate, and we're going to do so," Adams said.
But the locations of the shelters, how many asylum seekers will have to pack up their belonging and move, and the precise fire code violations are apparently closely guarded secrets, and it may be because finding new housing for them, in Adams' words, "becomes a tactical nightmare."
- Related story: Staten Island officials say FDNY inspection found violations at St. John Villa asylum seeker center
The mayor says that the number of asylum seekers who have arrived seeking housing is now over 127,000. It's now a staggering 4,000 a week, up from 2,400.
"I want to be honest with New Yorkers -- you're going to see the visual of running out of room. It's not if, it's when people are going to be sleeping on our streets," Adams said.
The sheer numbers forced the city to again limit the amount of time migrants can can stay in shelters. Now families with children will have a two-month time limit.
The city also plans to put 500 families with children in a semi-congregant setting at Floyd Bennett Field, a move that was roundly criticized as inhumane by the Legal Aid Society and homeless advocates.
The mayor lashed out at them, saying instead of brickbats, "Come up with some tangible ideas. Criticism is not an idea."
The Legal Aid Society and the Coalition for the Homeless fired back, saying, "The mayor can live in whatever reality he wants, but for anyone with eyes to see, the truth is that we have worked with both the city and the state diligently and consistently to identify practical and tangible solutions."
The mayor says that no matter where they move, officials will make sure the migrant children will attend the same schools. The city will provide buses and other transportation to guarantee "educational stability."