16 minute read
ASYLUM-SEEKERS
SANCTUARY CITY?
OVERWHELMED & BREAKINGAdvocates worry that New York City won’t follow the law and give adequate shelter to incoming migrants. By Tim Murphy
Advertisement
OVERWHELMED
Many migrants have traveled a long way from Latin American countries to get to New York City. L ATE IN THE morning on Sept. 23, roughly 50 new arrivals to New York City – men, women and children, including several toddlers and babies – waited on chairs inside a gated-off section of the main entrance to the Port Authority Bus Terminal. They were surrounded by bags of clothing and food, and several seemed busy feeding children.
No sooner had a reporter begun talking to one family close to the gated perimeter – who said they’d just finished a multipart journey from Venezuela – than a New York City worker rushed over and barked that press were relegated to the bus drop-off area around the corner on 41st Street. That area was empty, except for more security gates and a sign reading “No Press Beyond this Point.”
A few minutes later, several blocks away on West 49th Street close to the Hudson River, a 33-year-old Venezuelan man was sitting on the steps, glued to his phone, outside a massive American Red Cross center, which has been housing intake services for the more than 13,000 people who have come to New York City since the spring, many of them seeking asylum here from Venezuela or other Latin American countries. Some of the asylum-seekers were coaxed or tricked into getting on buses to New York City by Texas and Florida Govs. Greg Abbott and Ron DeSantis – their way of sticking it in the face of northern blue states – but many had come of their own accord, fleeing repressive regimes, poverty, violence and looking to start new lives – whether they already had family and friends here or not.
The influx, which continues at the rate of hundreds of people per week according to the mayor’s office, has pushed New York City’s crowded homeless shelter system to the breaking point. According to a state law like no other in the U.S., New York City must provide immediate accommodation, measuring up to certain health, comfort and safety standards, to anyone who requests it, even if they’re newly arrived to the city.
“We went through several different countries and jungles to get here,” said the Venezuelan man, who arrived recently with his wife, with whom he’s living in a Queens shelter, and his daughter, who is already in school here. The entire journey from Venezuela to New York City took them two months, he said, but now that they’re here, they don’t want to leave. He said he has been finding any cash work available – fixing things, sweeping – “anything that somebody might need.”
He said his dream was to get legal papers, find steady work and be able to send money to his relatives in Venezuela, which he said they left to escape “the president’s regime.” But he added that since arriving in New York, he and his family had received support and were, overall, happy.
Nearby on the sidewalk, another man, 39, his wife, 32, and their son, 9, stood alongside the stroller that held their 1-year-old baby. They had arrived in the city a month ago
from Nicaragua, after a trip that involved walking across large swaths of Mexico. “We thought about all the bad things that could happen to us on the trip,” said the man, “but we still did it for our children.”
They arrived by bus at Port Authority at 6 a.m., followed by an intake that placed them in a hotel room, where the city is placing as many migrant families as possible. (In the right to shelter law, families must be given their own shelter unit; only single people can be in congregate settings.) They said they were being given free food, were scheduled to appear in immigration court on Oct. 4 and, yes, they wanted to stay in New York.
“The trip here was hard but not impossible,” the man said, “and now our dream is to settle here and work.”
It’s a dream they share with thousands of their fellow recent arrivals – and one that New York City Mayor Eric Adams has said he’s ready to honor. His team, even while tweeting that Abbott’s “continued use of human beings as political pawns is disgusting,” has said that “NYC will continue to welcome asylum seekers w/ open arms, as we have always done.”
But just how the city will do so has worried immigrant and shelter advocates. They objected to the mayor’s proposed plan to use cruise ships to temporarily house migrants for whom there was no room in shelters or city-contracted hotels. On Sept. 22, he announced that the city would erect massive emergency tent complexes to accommodate the overage – the first of which, to house 1,000 single adults at a time, began being built in the Bronx’s Orchard Beach. Advocates have complained about the location because it is remote, poorly connected to public transit and in a flood zone.
But yet another concern was that the tent sites will be under the city’s Emergency Management office rather than the shelter system, technically exempting them from shelter rules, such as the requirement that everyone must have a proper mattress. The city released photos of what a site would look like, showing a massive open room with endless cots lined up. The city noted that such a space was for single adults for a maximum of 96 hours, but advocates still wondered how cots could accommodate a mattress.
“We’ve asked the city a number of questions about this,” said Legal Aid Society staff attorney Josh Goldfein, “but as far as the legal questions, it’s their view that these are not shelters or covered by those rules. But it’s never appropriate to place minor children in a congregate setting, and we’re trying to get an agreement (from the city) that they will definitely not do that.”
The proposed sites also raise legal questions about accommodations for people with disabilities, added Goldfein. “They’ve told us they’re going to address that, but we’ve seen no details from them,” he said.
The mayor’s office, the Department of Social Services, the Department of Homeless Services and the Emergency Management office did not reply to multiple emails from City &
Masbia, a nonprofit soup kitchen and food pantry network, has been preparing meals and welcoming migrants coming into Port Authority on buses from Texas and other states.
State to clarify any of these details. However, at a Sept. 27 press conference, the mayor appeared to confirm that the tent sites would not be subject to the rules of the shelter system: “The migrant crisis is outside of the housing initiative that we are doing for right to shelter.”
Aside from worries that the emergency sites would not be appropriate, advocates also demanded that the city instantly take a number of steps to free up space in the shelter system for the surge of asylum-seekers.
“There’s no reason in the world the city can’t immediately implement reforms to make it easier for people who are currently in shelter to get (permanent) housing,” said Catherine Trapani, executive director of Homeless Services United, a coalition of about 50 nonprofits that also represents the majority of city-contracted nonprofit shelters.
Among the things the city could do right now, she said, was to cut red tape so that existing shelter residents could get into permanent housing quickly after identifying an apartment and a landlord willing to take public assistance – such as rent vouchers for families – which landlords must do by law but which can be hard to enforce. The city could also pay off past-due invoices to its shelter providers, which would then allow the providers to open more facilities. It could slow down Housing Court eviction proceedings, which have been slowly rising.
She added, “There are thousands of vacancies between NYCHA, (the Department of Housing Preservation and Development) and supportive units (for people with special physical or mental health needs) that are currently unfilled for largely bureaucratic reasons.”
She said the city should continue to book asylum-seekers into vacant hotel rooms – a somewhat harder task than it was during COVID-19, when vacancy rates were soaring – and that “there are other types of buildings more permanent than tents located in a flood zone, such as fitness centers and college dorms, that the city could repurpose.”
City agencies did not immediately respond to a City & State request asking if any of those solutions were in the works.
There’s also the issue of how soon those seeking asylum can legally work here – a federal matter. Asylum-seekers are not authorized to work legally for about a year while their case is pending. Recently, President Joe Biden’s administration took steps to streamline the asylum hearing process.
Meanwhile, a vast network of charity and mutual aid groups have been scrambling to help the city supply the asylum-seekers with everything they need, including food, clothes, toiletries and school supplies as well as legal support and mental health counseling. The first week that migrants began arriving at Port Authority, they were met with warm welcome signs, food and new clothes from groups including Artists Athletes Activists as well as Masbia, the latter of which cleaned out several Walmarts in order to greet newcomers with new pairs of shoes.
“We saw people arriving without shoes or maybe just flip-flops after being on a bus for 50 hours, so we decided that (giving people new) shoes would help give them back their dignity,” said Alex Rapaport, Masbia’s executive director. The experience was, he said, “surreal – a pop-up Ellis Island feel in a dark back alley,” by which he meant 41st Street, where the buses pulled in.
But advocates stressed the legal burden was on the city to make sure that the newcomers were sheltered properly.
“I worry we’re being distracted by a crisis,” Trapani said, “but we have to be able to walk and chew gum at the same time.” When it comes to the ongoing need to shelter people, she said, “We can’t let the bigger pieces fall by the wayside.” ■
– A man who recently arrived in New York City from Nicaragua
Tim Murphy is a Queens-based freelance journalist focusing on health care, housing and LGBTQ issues.
SANCTUARY CITY?
THE ROAD TO “LAKE ORCHARD”
October 3, 2022 City & State New York
15 New York City began construction on tents at Orchard Beach toward the end of September.
THE ROAD TO
By Sahalie Donaldson
THE PROPOSED SITE of a recently announced tent facility for newly arrived migrants is located in a far-flung coastal parking lot in the Bronx – an area prone to flooding.
The shelter will be erected in the Orchard Beach parking lot and will house up to 1,000 adults at a time, according to New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ office. There will be a second facility as well, which will house families with children, but the location hasn’t been confirmed yet. Described as “humanitarian emergency response and relief centers,” a press release said the facilities will shelter and support asylum-seekers on a temporary basis. Two photo examples of what the Orchard Beach facility would look like showed multiple sweeping white tents packed together in a parking lot. Inside, uniform rows of cots stretched from one end of the structure to the other.
Orchard Beach is prone to flooding, and the Atlantic hurricane season, which will run through the end of November, recently picked up momentum. The entire parking lot area is designated as a “special flood hazard area” on the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s flood map and is entirely within the city’s “Zone 1” hurricane evacuation designation. But even a normal rainstorm could potentially be an issue, according to an East Bronx political leader who asked for anonymity to
It’s unclear why New York City “LAKE ORCHARD” chose to house migrants in an isolated Bronx parking lot that often floods.
About 1 in 5 migrants who’ve arrived in New York City has been sent by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.
discuss a sensitive topic.
“I’m baffled by the whole thing. Flooding is a big concern, the weather, a transportation desert. And all the amenities that you would want somebody to get while they’re getting social services are not there,” the source told City & State, adding that Orchard Beach has always had issues with flooding and pooling during regular rainstorms.
Last year, The Bronx Times reported that several residents of the nearby City Island sent a letter in 2018 to a few city agencies, including the Department of Transportation, outlining the drainage problems on several roads and how they’ve led to dangerous conditions. The entrance to Orchard Beach at Park Drive between Orchard Beach Road and City Island Road in particular has posed such an issue that some have informally dubbed it “Lake Orchard.”
“Everybody knows that it’s one of the more vulnerable geographies in the New York area,” said Anthony Rogers-Wright, director of environmental justice at New York Lawyers for the Public Interest. “It’s disappointing that this is the location that has been settled upon.”
He added that the city must put strong contingency plans in place now, because it is entirely possible for a storm to strike New York City in the months to come.
City officials said hundreds of people continue to arrive in New York City each day. They are primarily coming from Venezuela, fleeing violence and economic instability, and can legally reside in the United States while seeking a more permanent status. Many asylum-seekers have been bused from Texas under a political ploy by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. Under a long-standing court ruling, New York City is obligated to provide a bed to every person who requests one. The city’s homeless shelter system has been overwhelmed by the increased numbers in recent months – more than 10,000 people, accord “Everybody knows that it’s one of the more vulnerable geographies in the New York area. It’s disappointing that this is the location that has been settled upon.”
– Anthony Rogers-Wright, New York Lawyers for the Public Interest’s director of environmental justice
FEMA’s flood map shows the entire parking lot area is at risk of flooding during rainstorms.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams has gotten into a war of words with the Texas governor over the busloads of migrants being sent to the city.
ing to Adams’ office – and City Hall has been desperate for temporary solutions to meet its legal obligations and to live up to New York’s reputation as a sanctuary for migrants.
Since the city’s announcement, elected officials and immigration and homeless advocacy organizations have voiced concerns about the planned facility. New York City Council Member Shahana Hanif, who is the Immigration Committee chair, likened the structure to a refugee camp and said the photos show that it “will inevitably fail to meet the bare minimum standards” of the shelter system. The Legal Aid Society and Coalition for the Homeless released a joint statement expressing concerns about any scenario that would place families with children in a congregate setting. State Sen. Jessica Ramos of Queens said she has never seen the city offer anything like the tents to homeless New Yorkers in the past, Gothamist reported.
A city spokesperson said safety will be the top priority at the Orchard Beach facility and that all necessary measures will be taken to keep people safe – including from inclement weather. The tents will be climate controlled and weatherized, though additional details have yet to be provided. The city has also emphasized that anyone staying within the center will do so on a temporary basis, likely around one to four days.
“This is something that we’re bringing to the table and it’s humanity, it’s making sure that the asylum-seekers have a safe, sanitary place to stay. This is a priority not only to myself, but certainly to the borough president and the mayor,” said Council Member Marjorie Velázquez, whose district encompasses Orchard Beach. “This will not be built overnight and I can reassure you that there’s a lot of conversation (taking place).”
Velázquez said it was essential that the city create an environment where asylum-seekers can get off the bus and have an opportunity to “stop and breathe” while receiving services like health checks. She confirmed that she also recently asked the city to increase the number of police officers from precincts covering the area – which she said are facing staffing shortages – to bolster public safety and resources for the community and any asylum-seekers who will be housed at Orchard Beach.
Kathryn Kliff, a staff attorney in The Legal Aid Society’s Homeless Rights Project, said the nonprofit and the Coalition for the Homeless recently sent a long list of questions to the city that underscore both organizations’ concerns about the plans. Orchard Beach is an isolated area and a long walk from public transportation, she said. Buses don’t go to the location during the off-season, however, the city told City & State that transportation will be provided to asylum-seekers.
“The location is not our first choice by any means,” Kliff said. “Obviously they wanted a large space for the type of facility they are envisioning, but being that far away from everything is certainly concerning to us, especially if people are going to be staying there for up to 96 hours, that’s quite a few days, and people might need to do things and get things.”
Underscoring these concerns was the fact that many of the people who would seek shelter there are likely to have experienced an immense amount of trauma getting into the U.S. and making their way to New York City. Communal settings where large numbers of people are sheltered under a single roof aren’t the best environment for people to heal from trauma, nor are they always the safest place to be – especially for families with children, according to Kliff.
“We appreciate the city dialoguing with us and we’re happy to try and help come up with solutions, but we do want to make sure that people’s legal rights are still being honored and that people are safe and in a situation where they can get the services they need.” Kliff said. “We still have a lot of questions about how that is going to work on a day-to-day basis.” ■
