New York City’s homeless system is sheltering a record number of people week after week, as the influx of immigrants continues to grow – more than 500 people per day arrived last week.
Mayor Eric Adams has opted for a tougher approach. He announced a 60-day limit on how long a family can stay in any shelter. After that, the family must return to a reception center and reapply for shelter. A similar limit was imposed on single adults during the summer and was later reduced to 30 days.
“Expanding this policy to all asylum seekers in our care is the only way to help immigrants take the next steps in their journeys,” Adams said in a statement.
He also mentioned a new shelter for 500 families, which is being built at a defunct airport in Brooklyn. However, it will not provide private rooms for families. Instead, there will be an open hall with privacy dividers.
Homeless advocates criticized the plan. The Legal Aid Society and the Coalition for the Homeless stated in a joint statement that forcing families to move every two months would “disrupt access to education” for the thousands of immigrant children enrolled in the city’s public schools (federal law allows homeless students to remain in the same school if they move). And housing families “in cramped and open cubicles” at Floyd Bennett Field, the former airport, could violate state regulations governing family shelters for the homeless, the groups said.
Adams has been desperately seeking ways to contain the costs of housing and feeding immigrants, an amount he estimated would reach $12 billion over three years. More than 130,000 people fleeing economic and political turmoil in Latin America have come to the Capital of the World since last year. Over 65,000 are now in shelters.
New York has attracted immigrants, in part because it is the only major city in the U.S. that must provide a bed to every homeless person who requests one – a result of a decades-long court ruling.
Source: The New York Times