New migrant shelter set to open in the Bronx, 13 closing citywide
NEW YORK CITY (PIX11) – The city will close 13 emergency migrant shelters by June and open one additional facility in the Bronx, Mayor Eric Adams announced Friday.
Shelters in all five boroughs, including the massive and controversial Hall Street facility in Brooklyn, are expected to close by the summer, removing 10,000 beds in total, Adams said.
The mayor previously announced that 25 shelter sites would close by March 2025, including Floyd Bennet Field and Randall’s Island. By June, 20% of emergency shelters opened for the crisis will have closed, Adams said.
The influx of migrants into New York City has declined and the city has significantly reduced its expenditure on the asylum seeker crisis, Adams said.
Even still, the city will open a new facility on Bruckner Boulevard in the Bronx to house adult men previously living on Randall’s Island. The new site will house 2,200 single men.
“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,” Adams said.
But some advocates say the closures are not a win without access to stable housing for those previously staying in shelters.
“While we are glad that large congregate settings like Hall Street are being closed, we expected that the city would do more to move people to safer and more stable longterm housing. Instead, Adams seems determined to play an extended game of shelter whack-a-mole,” said Murad Awawdeh, President of the New York Immigration Coalition.
Last week, confusion and frustration erupted at a Brooklyn shelter on Jefferson Street as migrants say they were suddenly told to pack up and relocate. The mayor's office, though, said they were notified in advance.
The following shelters will 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