This week city officials are dismantling the 1,000 beds they set up for migrants in the waiting area of the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal, reports The Wall Street Journal. Many migrants there were previously housed at a Midtown Manhattan hotel before being temporarily moved to the cruise terminal. Now, they will next be relocated to two office buildings, including one in Times Square and the Jefferson office building in Bushwick.
The move to use the building as a migrant shelter comes amid a surge in arrivals at the southern border of the United States. The Biden administration has been grappling with how to handle the influx of migrants, many of whom are children traveling alone. And with city court systems establishing a legal right to shelter in New York City, Mayor Eric Adams continues to struggle to find space for an influx of asylum seekers who began arriving in higher numbers last year.
“This is a national issue. It should not be on the backs of New Yorkers,” Adams said.
Buses carrying migrants from the cruise terminal began arriving Monday at a five-story office building in Bushwick. It will eventually be home to between 500 and 600 men, who will sleep on cots on open floors, officials said. Several new arrivals have already begun comparing their new spot in Bushwick with the old. The Jefferson Building in Bushwick is closer to a subway stop and there are nearby restaurants and shops, but it comes with fewer storage lockers, some men stated.
As of Sunday, there were around 23,000 migrants in homeless shelters — roughly 32% of the total shelter population, city officials said. That led to the creation of ad hoc relief centers in a tent city, hotels, at the cruise terminal and now in converted office buildings. The city is now in talks with houses of worship to shelter hundreds of people in sanctuaries and parish halls.
The Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Brooklyn’s Bay Ridge neighborhood could take part in these housing efforts, Pastor Juan Carlos Ruiz said. His congregation has previously helped distribute food to migrants, host legal clinics,and provide respite beds for several months last year, but stopped as volunteers burned out.
“It is without question that this is a very difficult situation,” stated City Councilmember Alexa Avilés.
"The cruise-terminal facility was jarring to visit: Migrants slept on cots lined up inches from each other, and shower facilities were in trailers near the harbor — forcing walks in the cold, she said. “We need to find a way to create a more resilient system.”
