Mayor Eric Adams is considering using empty public school buildings in New York City to temporarily house migrants during the summer, according to sources familiar with the plans, a published news article reported.
Mayor Eric Adams’s Office confirmed on Wednesday that they are exploring the option of utilizing school facilities to handle the influx of migrants arriving in the city from the southern border. (Photo: Yahoo Finance)
Mayor Eric Adams Compiles List of School Buildings
The Office of Emergency Management, in collaboration with Mayor Eric Adams’s Office, has compiled a list of school buildings that could potentially be used as temporary shelters.
Some of the schools being considered include Talented in Coney Island, Mark Twain Middle School for the Gifted, New Dorp High School on Staten Island, and Russell Sage Middle School in Forest Hills.
Approximately 20 to 30 schools are currently under close examination for their suitability to process and temporarily shelter migrants. This approach comes in response to previous criticism faced by City Hall when migrants were housed in school gyms.
Mayor Eric Adams Faces Opposing Ideas
Brooklyn Councilman Ari Kagan, representing the district that includes Mark Twain Middle School, expressed his opposition to the idea of Mayor Eric Adams using schools as migrant shelters, citing the community’s resistance to such a move. Similar objections were raised when migrants were previously placed in the gym at PS 188 in Coney Island, leading to their subsequent relocation.
Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella also voiced his opposition to housing migrants at a high school located “in the heart of New Dorp.”
Mayor Eric Adams’s Office confirmed on Wednesday that they are exploring the option of utilizing school facilities to handle the influx of migrants arriving in the city from the southern border. The mayoral spokesperson acknowledged that although this option may not be ideal, the city is facing capacity challenges with over 51,800 asylum-seekers under its care and is considering all available alternatives.
In addition to the potential use of schools, the city has already opened 179 emergency sites, including 12 Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Centers in numerous hotels across the city.
However, with shelter and space becoming increasingly limited, Mayor Eric Adams has instructed that migrants be sent to hotels in the Hudson Valley and further upstate. The city is also exploring the availability of private office spaces to accommodate the growing number of migrants in need of temporary housing.
