NYC to close 13 migrant shelters by June 2025; new Bronx facility to open

NEW YORK - By June, the city plans to shut down 13 emergency migrant shelters while opening a new facility in the Bronx, NYC Mayor Eric Adams said on Friday.

What shelters are set to close? 

What we know:

Thirteen new emergency shelters serving asylum seekers across the five boroughs, including Hall Street in Brooklyn, one of the city’s largest facilities that currently houses approximately 3,500 migrants, are set to close.

Adams said approximately 10,000 beds for migrants will be removed. 

In December, Adams announced 25 additional sites that would be closing by March 2025, including the Floyd Bennet Field and Randall’s Island Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Centers.

New migrant shelters under construction on Randall's Island in New York, US, on Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2023. New York City's facility to house 2,000 migrants in tents on Randall's Island will open next week and will remain in operation for the foreseeab

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According to a press release from the Mayor's office, by June 2025, the administration will have closed over 20% of emergency sites opened in response to the asylum seeker crisis. 

Here's the list of shelters set to close by June 2025, in addition to three more that have not been announced yet:

• BK Way, Brooklyn
• Hall Street Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Center, Brooklyn
• Holiday Inn Express, Brooklyn
• The VYBE BK, Brooklyn
• 99 Washington Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Center, Manhattan
• The Stewart Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Center, Manhattan
• The Watson Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Center, Manhattan
• Hotel Nedia, Queens
• Holiday Inn/Staten Island Inn, Staten Island
• Ramada, Yonkers

What they're saying:

"The additional closures we are announcing today, provides yet another example of our continued progress and the success of our humanitarian efforts to care for everyone throughout our system. Our intensive and smart efforts have helped more than 178,000 asylum seekers — 78 percent of the migrants who have ever been in our care — take the next steps on their journeys towards pursuing the American Dream," Mayor Adams said. 

The migrant crisis in New York City

By the numbers:

Adams said the influx of migrants into New York City has declined.

According to the Mayor's office, the number of asylum seekers in city shelters has decreased for 27 straight weeks and is now at its lowest point in over 18 months. 

There are currently under 51,000 migrants receiving city shelter services, down from a high of over 69,000 in January 2024 and out of more than 229,000 that have arrived in New York City seeking city services since the spring of 2022, the Mayor's office said.

 City to open Bronx migrant shelter

What's next:

With the closure of 13 emergency migrant shelters, the city is set to open "a smaller brick-and-mortar congregate facility" in the Bronx.

The shelter will be located on Bruckner Boulevard and is dedicated to single adult male residents transferred from the tent-based emergency site at Randall’s Island, the Mayor's office said.