A play center in a popular New York City park is being converted into a makeshift migrant shelter as 100 asylum seekers prepare to move in.
Workers have begun unloading supplies from trucks to set up the Play Center in McCarren Park, Brooklyn, between the ultra-expensive neighborhoods of Greenpoint and Williamsburg.
According to officials, who were notified of the move on Wednesday evening, migrants could move into the facility as early as Saturday.
The group will temporarily live in the park’s recreation center, which is popular with residents of the affluent and very liberal neighborhood of Williamsburg thanks to its swimming pool and gym.
Facilities at the leisure center will not be affected by the new residents, local representatives said in a joint statement. As of Friday, walk throughs will still be held in the park.
The group temporarily moves into the park’s recreation center, which is popular with residents of the Williamsburg neighborhood
Mayor Eric Adams has assured that public access to downtown amenities will not be interrupted
Despite officials saying it was adults only, the New York Post reported that baby food and cots were being loaded
In a statement, Brooklyn officials representing the area at city, federal and state levels said: “Mayor Eric Adams’ office assured us that public access to the pool and fitness center will not be affected and additional security will be in place to to ensure everyone’s safety.’
Despite supplies for what appear to be children being unloaded at the facility, officials said the New York Post that it would be for adults only.
The post reported that baby food and cots were set up in the building for the imminent arrival of the migrants.
What happens to any after-school programs held at the center remains unknown, with an official narration the mail there was no word on whether they would be moved.
A local Tabitha Acaba told the outlet, “It’s just awful. I work and my children go to the after-school care in the south wing.
It is an extra helping hand for working parents. I got an email that it might be used for migrants, but I don’t know what the kids will do.’
The move comes as Adams is also considering using Randall’s Island to house migrants sleeping in the hundreds on the streets of Manhattan.
It is estimated that nearly 10,000 migrants in New York City were brought north by Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbot.
Workers have begun redesigning the area to accommodate a large number of migrants from the southern border
Employees load furniture into the facility that is supposed to house up to 100 migrants
It comes after city officials managed to release a large number of migrants living on the sidewalks of East 45th Street and Vanderbilt Avenue in Manhattan.
Dozens of migrants had camped at the Roosevelt Hotel, which was being used as a processing center.
New York is bound by a decades-old decree of consent in a class action lawsuit to provide shelter for the homeless.
As a result, the Roosevelt Hotel and other refugee hubs have become – within walking distance of Times Square, the World Trade Center memorial, and the Empire State Building.
Over the weekend, the migrants were given little red tickets with numbers on them — and occasionally hotel workers would come out to call numbers to let people into the air-conditioned lobby.
Adams hasn’t spoken publicly about the crisis in days, but visited the Roosevelt on Wednesday under the cover of the night, where he was harassed by an irate New Yorker demanding his resignation over the ongoing migrant crisis.
He told CBS News “we’re not hearing enough” from federal officials to stem the influx of migrants.
It has been revealed that city officials were considering housing migrants in tents in Central Park as the migrant crisis became a state of emergency in New York.
The proposed migrant plan, first reported by the Gothamistalso views 3,000 other New York sites, including touristic public green spaces, as places to build emergency housing for the crushing influx of migrants.
In response to the Gothamist report, Deputy Mayor of Health and Human Services Anne Williams-Isom said, “Everything is on the table.”
Williams-Isom said she believes people will come from other US cities like Denver and Chicago when the doors close there. By comparison, New York City has opened a total of 197 locations across the city to help with the problem.
City officials have considered housing migrants in tents in Central Park as the migrant crisis worsens
Migrants are shown sleeping on the street outside the Roosevelt Hotel in midtown Manhattan
On Thursday, the area around the hotel was cleared of migrants. It is not clear where they are placed
In the last week of July, 2,300 migrants arrived in the city to apply for asylum. The Roosevelt Hotel has about 1,000 rooms available for migrants.
New York City cannot bear the weight of a national problem alone. It’s time for the rest of the country to act,” Williams-Isom warned on Wednesday.
She reiterated that New York is facing the biggest problem of a nationwide problem. There are currently 15 different languages spoken outside the Roosevelt Hotel – indicative of how far-reaching the migrant crisis has become.
This isn’t the Adams administration’s migration crisis plan A or even plan B — it’s “plan F,” Williams-Isom said, emphasizing how much the city has already done.
The city says more than 93,000 asylum seekers have passed through the intake system since April 2022.
New York City has also been spending about $8 million a day to deal with the influx. Adams has appealed for more funding from the FBI, which has not been granted.”
The Biden administration has already provided about $100 million to New York City to deal with the crisis.
Another $138.4 million was previously given to New York City to support the migrant influx.