New York City Mayor Eric Adams said the city has reached its “stress point” as 400 asylum seekers arrive in the Big Apple each day.
Adams has submitted a request for mutual emergency assistance to the state and Gov. Kathy Hochul, asking for immediate help over the weekend to house the arriving migrants.
“We’re at our breaking point,” Adams said. “Based on our projections, we assume that we will no longer be able to accommodate incoming asylum seekers on our own.
“Our initial proposal is housing for 500 asylum seekers, but as New York City continues to inflate numbers, that estimate will increase as well.”
The call for help comes a week after Colorado joined the list of states bringing migrants to New York City to ease the burden on those near the southern border and get asylum seekers to their preferred destination.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams said the city hit its “breaking point” on Friday when he asked for government help to deal with 400 migrants arriving each day
Adams said about 40,000 asylum seekers have reached the Big Apple since last spring, including 835 on Thursday alone. Many were bused into the city by governors and city officials from border states
Adams called on Gov. Kathy Hochul (pictured) to help house 500 asylum seekers, but predicted the city must help house many more
Adam’s office noted that the city has taken in more than 3,100 asylum seekers over the past week, averaging about 400 a day, with 835 arriving on Thursday alone.
“All of this is bringing New York City to the brink,” Adams said. “Since last spring, the city has stepped up to accommodate about 40,000 asylum seekers and provide them with shelter, food and connections to a variety of resources.
“We have opened 74 emergency shelters and four humanitarian aid centers at breakneck speed, almost entirely on our own.”
The mayor also appeared to attack the Biden administration and federal lawmakers for a lack of solutions at the border, which has seen a surge in illegal immigration in recent months.
“The absence of much-needed federal immigration reform should not mean that this humanitarian crisis falls solely on the shoulders of cities,” Adams said.
“We need support and help from our partners at the federal and state levels and look forward to working together to address this crisis head-on.”
Back in October, Adams declared a state of emergency over the influx of migrants into the Big Apple and called on the Biden administration to help with the $1 billion cost of assisting asylum seekers.
Last week, Adams accused Colorado’s Democratic governor of launching an “unfair” plan to send an influx of migrants to the Big Apple.
Pictured: Buses carrying 100 migrants from El Paso arrive in New York City December 19
Adams has declared a national emergency over the influx of migrants as the city has so far opened 74 shelters for the asylum seekers
Adams said the situation was the result not only of “unfair” bus tactics, but also of the inability of the Biden administration and federal lawmakers to act against the southern border
Colorado Dem Gov. Jared Polis called NYC Mayor Jan. 2 to let him know that a large number of migrants were being transported into the city.
Adams publicly criticized the plan Tuesday morning, insisting New York had taken in its fair share of migrants, adding, “There’s no more room at the inn.”
The row marks a rare confrontation between two senior Democrats over the issue of migrants crossing the Mexican border into the United States.
Previous arguments have centered on Republican states like Texas, Florida and Arizona, which were sending migrants to Democratic states that were much softer on the problem.
“It’s just unfair that local governments have to take on this national obligation,” Adams said in a post-bus interview in Colorado.
“This has really impacted the quality of life in New York and our ability to serve the needs of everyday, extended-stay New Yorkers during this difficult time. So that needs to be addressed.’
Officials in Colorado, which isn’t a haven like New York, are working with nonprofit organizations, including those that work specifically with the Venezuelan community, to help migrants reach their “places of choice.”
The flow of migrants into the Big Apple has also strained the local hotels that have been hosting the asylum seekers.
Filipe Rodriguez, who works at The Row NYC hotel, said there had been a number of incidents of “domestic violence” among migrants, young people had “sex on the stairs” and added that there was a fight between a migrant and a Hotel security officials in the building where they are staying
Rodriguez added that thousands of dollars worth of taxpayer-funded groceries are wasted because migrants throw them away because they insist on cooking on hotplates in their rooms
Migrants coming into New York City from the border were temporarily housed at this luxury Manhattan hotel – The Row in tourist hotspot Times Square
Many of the new migrants will be temporarily housed at the 1,300-room Manhattan luxury hotel The Row NYC, a $500 hotel in the tourist hotspot Times Square.
Hotel worker Filipe Rodriguez has called the situation a “shame” and shared videos and photos of the chaos, including “good food” rotting in garbage bags because “the migrants don’t want to eat it”.
“The chaos we see at Row today is [caused] by migrants who are drunk, drink all day, smoke marijuana [and] Doing drugs,” Rodriguez told The Ingraham Angle on Fox News this week.
Alcohol is banned in all migrant shelters, ABC7 reported, but staff say they often find empty beer and liquor bottles in rooms and hallways, as seen in photos shared by Rodriguez.
“The form in which they keep their rooms is appalling. They don’t clean it, they don’t fold their clothes. They hoard clothes, they hoard anything they can hoard,” he said.
He added that thousands of dollars’ worth of taxpayer-funded groceries are wasted because migrants throw them away because they insist on cooking on hotplates in their rooms, which also poses a danger to themselves and other hotel guests.
“They said they don’t like it,” he said of the migrants and the hotel food. “It’s all food that goes to waste. That’s crazy.’