Families living in New York City shelters being relocated to make room for incoming asylum seekers
NEW YORK -- Families experiencing homelessness are packing up to move from one shelter to another as New York City tries to make room for incoming asylum seekers.
Parents and kids waited around Friday outside a Bronx family shelter where many have been living for months.
This week, shelter staff began telling them to pack up and get out.
"They told us that we can't stay here no more. Like, other people need this space," an 18-year-old said.
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Some families have already been relocated to different shelters around the five boroughs. Others will be moved next week.
Maidy is an asylum seeker who came with her four relatives last year. They're moving from a studio in the shelter to a hotel room.
"They can't pay for the storage 'cause in the hotel, they're not going to allow her to bring a lot of stuff, only the clothes," a translator said.
Nelly Bernardez lives in the shelter with his kids and wife. She just gave birth to their new son five days ago.
In Spanish, Bernardez said the city gave his family two hours' notice to clear out and move to their new location, and as of Friday night, shelter staff let his postpartum wife and kids back inside to pack but locked him out.
"They're telling us that they're gonna put us in a hotel, and in the hotel, we don't have what to eat, there's no place for us to cook and we need help," one of Bernardez's children said.
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The city's Department of Social Services told us with nearly 60,000 asylum seekers now in their care, DSS is trying to maximize capacity in their shelters to meet the needs of both asylum seekers and long-term homeless New Yorkers.
"These are children, these are disabled people, elderly people, people with language barriers, cultural barriers, and we need actually the help of somebody," church leader Bianca Garcia said.
It's not the first time this has happened. In August, DSS moved families out of a different Bronx shelter on a day's notice.
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"So many questions with no answers, honestly, and these people, they need a voice," Garcia said.
A DSS spokesman told us in part, "The city, and our not-for-profit provider partners, work closely with our clients to make sure we are preserving stability as much as possible when transfers occur."