As part of Mayor Eric Adams’ effort to reduce the burden on New York City’s overburdened shelter system by putting a 60-day limit on shelter stays, migrant families were transferred out of a hotel in midtown Manhattan on January 9, 2024.
The first of many families that are anticipated to vacate municipal shelters in the upcoming weeks is the estimated forty families that departed Row NYC, located in the center of the city’s Theater District. While some of the people who were departing have claimed to found more permanent housing outside of the system, others said they had applied for beds again almost after.
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Democratic Congressman Adams put a cap on the number of homeless migrant families in October, citing the need to relieve the shelter system from an influx of asylum seekers overflowing the southern border of the United States.
With her bags and other personal belongings in tow, 26-year-old Maria Quero of Venezuela—who is almost nine months pregnant—was one of the people recently waiting outside the Row hotel.
She stated that she intended to travel to the Roosevelt Hotel, a different midtown lodging establishment that has been converted into an intake hub for newly arrived migrants. According to city officials, migrant families may reapply there for an additional sixty days of shelter stay.
As her husband, David Dominguez, grabbed their possessions for the approximately 20-minute trek, Quero spoke in Spanish stating, “We have no idea what is going to happen there.”
The two, who had lived at the Row for five months after arriving in the nation six months earlier, said they had no relatives or acquaintances with whom to remain if they were unable to find another city bed.
“Let’s hope we have a suitable place. We know people who have been to the tents while they are pregnant,” Dominguez went on, mentioning the makeshift shelters the city has built in Brooklyn to accommodate the most recent arrivals. “A woman cannot be in a tent when she’s pregnant.”
For weeks now, the Adams administration has been warning that no one looking for a new placement will be assured of a bed.
To avoid any disturbance to their children’s schooling, Adams and other municipal officials stated on Monday that they would prioritize families and make every effort to locate them close to their children’s schools.
NY Mayor Adam stated, “This is not going to be a city where we’re going to place children and families on the street and have them sleep on the street.” He added, “That is not going to happen.”
Advocates for immigrants have staged protests recently, claiming that the new policy would force families to wait in freezing temperatures to be placed in a new shelter. This is the same predicament that single adult migrants have been in since the fall when their stay in city shelters was limited to 30 days.
Advocates claim that the time constraints might also interfere with migrant children’s education since they may force them to transfer schools if their families relocate. Brad Lander, the city comptroller, has said that he is opening an inquiry into how the Adams administration implemented the 60-day policy, including whether or not families were adequately informed of it and how much it will ultimately cost.
“What information is being provided to people? Are there protocols for the 60-day evictions?” As families were checking out of the Row Hotel, he stated that approximately 4,800 migrant families residing in shelters had received notifications of eviction. Colombian mother Mayra Martinez, 40, stated that her three kids feel conflicted about leaving the Row.
After staying at the hotel for almost a year, the family was able to afford a three-bedroom apartment in the neighboring city of Newark, New Jersey. “They like it here, but you can’t cook in the hotel and they miss home-cooked food,” Martinez spoke in Spanish when she and her spouse packed their bags and got into a waiting ridesharing. “They’re also a little sad because of their school. They’ll have to change and get used to a new school.”
Ahead of a storm that may cause damage, municipal officials temporarily evicted about 2,000 migrants living at Floyd Bennett Field, the former Brooklyn airport, in addition to evicting the hotels. In reaction to the tsunami of new refugees flooding the city, the Adams administration had constructed a makeshift shelter near the airfield.
“To be clear, this relocation is a proactive measure being taken out of an abundance of caution to ensure the safety and well-being of individuals working and living at the center,” A spokesman for Adams, Kayla Mamelak, stated in a statement. “The relocation will continue until any weather conditions that may arise have stabilized and the facility is once again fit for living.”
James Madison High School, which is located close to Brooklyn, was assigned to the inhabitants, many of whom were families with children.
