NYC asylum seekers brave frigid conditions to renew shelter applications
Migrant shelter concerns amid frigid temperatures
In case you haven't noticed, it's getting really cold outside. The big temperature drop is affecting migrants, many of whom are sleeping in tents or having to wait in long lines for services. FOX 5 NY's Antwan Lewis spoke with some people in the East Village trying to apply to extend their shelter stays.
NEW YORK - As frigid temperatures grip New York City, migrants and asylum seekers whose 30-day temporary shelter authorizations have expired are braving the cold to re-apply for 30 more days inside a shelter.
At the St. Brigid School intake facility in the East Village, dozens of people lined up, hoping to avoid having to sleep outdoors in tents.
"You go to the Bronx and it was three days. And now that the month is up again, they sent me here," Carlos Ramirez, a 20-year-old asylum seeker from Colombia said through an interpreter. "And apparently this queue is moving faster than the other."
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"Unfortunately, the Mayor's policy of having people to reapply to shelter resulted in, like, hundreds of people every day waiting just to try to get a place to sleep tonight," said New York State Assemblyman Harvey Epstein.
City Hall says it put the 30-day limit in place as it tries to find housing for the continued influx of arriving migrants under the state's Right to Shelter law.
However, demand is surpassing availability, and as Pastor William Kroeze of Trinity Lutheran Parish explains, it's not just beds those in line are needing.
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"We've had a lot of these asylum seekers coming thru for our soup kitchen for lunch, which on a typical day would feed maybe 200 lunches. A few weeks ago my understanding is that we had about 600 lunches served on one day," said Kroeze.
The significant drop in temperatures has many, including Epstein, concerned that without a federal lifeline, the line outside of sites like St. Brigid will get worse.
"We need a longer-term plan," Epstein said. "And hopefully the federal government steps up and ensures we have that plan."