(The Center Square) — More than 2,000 migrants will be housed at a former New York City airfield under a lease agreement between the state and federal governments as the city continues to grapple with an influx of asylum seekers.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced on Friday that the Biden administration has agreed to lease space at Floyd Bennett Field to the state to use as a humanitarian center, and the state will be picking up the costs of maintaining the site. The shelter is the latest to be set up on federal property in New York, including a facility on Randall’s Island.
Adams welcomed the move and thanked Gov. Kathy Hochul for pushing for the authorization but blamed Washington and Albany for not doing enough to deal with the migrant crisis.
“Let’s be clear: If the federal government were to issue an emergency declaration, additional federal space and funding would become available to better manage this crisis,” he said in a statement. “This is not an adequate solution or any sort of long-term plan by the federal government to this national problem.”
Lacking any “meaningful policy changes that would alter the course of this crisis,” Adams said New York City has “been forced to unsustainably open new site after new site as asylum seekers continue to arrive by the thousands.”
New York has seen more than 113,000 asylum seekers arrive in the city amid a surge of undocumented immigration along the U.S.-Mexico border over the past year.
The Adams administration has already spent an estimated $2 billion to care for about 61,000 migrants at more than 200 temporary shelters across the city.
Adams has described the migrant crisis as a “financial tsunami” hitting New York City’s finances and recently made a controversial claim that it will “destroy” the city if it doesn’t get more help from the state and federal governments.
Two weeks ago, Adams directed city agencies to slash 5% from their budgets by November — a roughly $5 billion cut from the $107 billion citywide spending plan — citing the ongoing financial impact of the migrant crisis.
More cuts are slated for early next year if the city doesn’t get more financial help from the state or federal governments, Adams says.
Hochul said the “humanitarian” centers, which provide shelter, food and other necessities, are costing the state’s taxpayers $20 million a month to operate.
Adams estimates the cost of providing for asylum seekers could rise to $12 billion in coming years without additional state or federal assistance.
Both Democrats say they will continue to push the Biden administration for expedited work authorizations for asylum seekers, a federal declaration of emergency and more federal funds, among other demands.
