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After The Mayor of New York, Eric Adams announced the planned opening of a 2,000-bed mass shelter in the South Bronx, Democratic Rep. Ritchie Torres criticized the decision, accusing Adams of treating the neighborhood as a “dumping ground” for immigrants.
The mayor’s office responded to Torres’ accusation by pointing out that, despite the opening of the new shelter, they plan to close 46 migrant shelters across the city and reduce the total number of shelter beds by 10,000 in june He noted that the Hall Street shelter in Brooklyn, one of the largest shelters being closed, housed 3,500 migrants.
The office announced the new shelter last week while at the same time saying it was continuing migration crisis in New York City is waning.
This comes as New York is poised to close its tent shelter on Randalls Island and dozens of other shelters in the coming months. New York is a sanctuary city for migrants and has a “right to sanctuary” law that requires the city to take in anyone seeking asylum who has no other options. However, in recent months, Adams has taken a different tone toward immigrants in the city, announcing the closure of a number of migrant shelters. In last week’s statement, Adams said the closings are part of the city’s efforts to find “more opportunities to save taxpayers money and turn the page on this unprecedented humanitarian crisis.”
“Thanks to the administration’s successful asylum seeker management strategies and federal border policy changes championed by the city, they have continued to reduce the number of people in the city’s care for 27 consecutive weeks and have reduced costs by nearly $2.8 billion over three fiscal years.” said the mayor.
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New York City Mayor Eric Adams sits down for an interview with Fox News anchor Martha MacCallum. (Fox News/The Story)
Meanwhile, the New York Post reported that it will cost the city $250,000 to $340,000 to modernize and prepare a 275,000-square-foot former office building in the Bronx to house the expected thousands of men who will live in the new migrant shelter.
The shelter’s location, 825 E. 141st St., was renovated in 2017 and is near an infamous section of the Bronx called “the Hub,” which is known for high volume drug use and open drug activity , including heroin use. and fentanyl. The building is owned by SoBro Local Development Corp., a non-profit organization whose mission is “to improve the quality of life in the South Bronx by strengthening businesses and creating and implementing innovative economic programs, d “housing, educational and professional development for young people and adults.”
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Adams’ announcement was not well received by many Bronx residents. Many of the city’s migrant reception centers have earned a reputation as hotbeds of violence, crime and gang activity such as international criminal group Tren d’Aragua. The New York Post reported a 21-year-old Bronx resident named Serene Bilal as saying, “Wrong move!… You have to work with the people who are already here. We have problems. Why the Bronx? Why choose the Bronx?
“It will be dangerous,” Bilal told the network. “We don’t know who these people are. We’re not talking about 10 people. We’re talking about thousands. That’s a lot.”
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Congressman Ritchie Torres speaks during a press conference in the Bronx on January 17, 2022. (Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Torres, that is He is rumored to be considering a run for governor of New Yorkhe also criticized the decision to place the new shelter in the Bronx.
“Instead of decisively dismantling the outdoor drug markets in the Hub, the city is treating the South Bronx as a dumping ground for an endless stream of shelters,” Torres told Fox News Digital.
“The Bronx is treated differently than the rest of the city,” he continued. “We’re treated like the second-class borough of New York City.”
Liz Garcia, spokeswoman for Adams, responded to Torres’ criticism by stressing that the total number of shelters citywide and the tax burden on citizens is being significantly reduced.
“I know every elected office has specific people to talk to, but we really look at it through a holistic lens,” Garcia said. “The bigger picture here is we’re closing 46 migrant sites, we’re reducing our bed count by 10,000 beds across the city, not just in the Bronx. And we’re specifically closing shelters that are in overcrowded areas.”
He noted that the city’s migrant shelter system was never permanent and noted that the new Bronx shelter is also a temporary measure.
Migrants are seen sleeping outside the Roosevelt Hotel in Midtown Manhattan on July 31, 2023. (Luiz C. Ribeiro/New York Daily News/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
In response to a question about when the Bronx shelter will close, Garcia said, “We don’t have a specific timeline for when it will close. It’s a lease, so it won’t be forever.”
He said it will depend on the city’s next migrant census.
“For more than six months now, we’ve seen a decrease in our census (of migrants). So if that continues, obviously there won’t be a need,” he said. “So it will close at some point in the near future. It’s just that we still need places to put people while we have to help them take the next steps.”
Michael Dorgan contributed to this report.
