Migrant families with children arrive at Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn
BROOKLYN - The makeshift shelter at Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn will soon begin settling in migrant families with children, according to City Hall.
FOX 5 NY's Christine Russo saw the first bus filled with migrants arrive Sunday afternoon.
It's still unclear exactly how many people will arrive at the site.
Mayor Eric Adams statement
"As we have said time and time again, more 139,500 have come through our intake system since the spring 2022, all of whom have been offered vital services like shelter. food, medical care, casework support, legal assistance, social services, and more. But, with more that 65,600 migrants currently in our care, and thousands more continuing to arrive every week, we have used every possible corner of New York City and are quite simply out of good options to shelter migrants. This is why we continue to call for meaningful help and a decompression strategy from our state and federal partners. No municipality should be left to manage a national crisis almost entirely on its own. It’s not fair to New Yorkers, and it’s not fair to asylum seekers.
Floyd Bennett Field was New York City's first municipal airport, but later turned into a naval base and then a park. It's named after Floyd Bennett, a Brooklyn resident and famous aviator.
The Biden administration gave New York the green light back in August to house over 2,500 migrants and asylum seekers at the site.
Lawmakers and local leaders have been voicing concerns over the safety of the site ever since.
FOX 5 NY toured the site late last month.
Similar to other migrant shelters, there is a tent for registration, where migrants can get ID badges, vaccines, school enrollment for children, and connect with a caseworker to start paperwork.
But there are a few things significantly different about the makeshift shelter.
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Floyd Bennett Field migrant shelter welcomes its first 500, as leaders cite safety concerns
The new makeshift shelter at Floyd Bennett field will eventually house 2,000 migrants. Leaders are questioning the site's desolate location, potential for flooding and unusual living quarters.
There is a cafeteria tent for food, and the bathrooms and showers are set up outside. There is one bathroom for every 15 people that will live there.
According to Dr. Ted Long with NYC Health + Hospitals, there will also be a Health + Hospitals ambulance that will be outside for any medical emergencies.
Migrants will live in ‘housing pods’ for families of up to six people.
There are 128 pods per 500 people. Only children ages three months and up can live in the pods.
The city has insisted the tents are safe and that there will be shuttles running every 90 minutes from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.
"We built sites now in parks, parking lots and now literally an airport runway. We're having to create this space, we don't have any other space we can access in New York City," Dr. Long explained.