Fields to shelter space: NYC looks to convert Randall's Island for migrant housing
NEW YORK CITY - Since last year, the city has opened 194 sites to shelter asylum seekers including 13 large-scale humanitarian shelters.
Two more are scheduled to open in the coming weeks.
According to the New York Post, the city is eyeing Randall's Island once again.
The city is considering fields 82,83,84, and 85 which are used for soccer and lacrosse.
Migrant shelters are full, so what's next? Sleeping on 45th Street
On one side of 45th Street, there are tourists, people commuting to work, going about their daily lives. On the other, it’s a different world.
Last fall, the city set up tents for migrants on parking lots on Randall's Island, but officials scrapped the plan that cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars and dismantled the tents weeks later because they were sparsely used.
FOX 5 reached out to the mayor's office for commentary.
A spokesperson said:
"As we've said multiple times, with more than 93,000 asylum seekers coming through our intake system since last spring, all options remain on the table. Our teams run out of space every single day and we do our best to offer placements wherever we have space available. Children and families continue to be prioritized and are found a bed every night. But we continue to do our best to at least offer adults a temporary place to wait off the sidewalks, but, in all honesty, New Yorkers may continue to see more and more migrants waiting outside as hundreds of asylum seekers continue to arrive in our city seeking shelter every day. This is the heartbreaking reality and something our teams have worked tirelessly to avoid, but while our compassion is limitless, our resources are not. We still desperately need help from our state and federal partners. In the meantime, we encourage migrants to take us up placements available outside of New York City as they become available."