New York City Mayor Eric Adams on Friday said the city will close 13 new emergency shelters serving asylum seekers across the five boroughs, including the large shelter facility located in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn.
The Hall Street shelter, at 47 Hall St., is one of the city’s largest facilities that currently houses approximately 3,500 migrants. The 13 shelters are slated to close by June 2025, according to a press release.
Other Brooklyn shelters set to close include BK Way (764 Fourth Ave.), Holiday Inn Express (833 39th St.) and VYBE BK (1024 Flatbush Ave.), the press release said.
The new closures will result in a capacity reduction of approximately 10,000 beds for migrants in the coming months.
Last month, Adams announced 25 additional sites that would be closing by March 2025, included the Floyd Bennet Field and Randall’s Island Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Centers. By June 2025, the administration will have closed over 20% of emergency sites opened in response to the asylum seeker crisis.
“The additional closures we are announcing today, provides yet another example of our continued progress and the success of our humanitarian efforts to care for everyone throughout our system," the mayor said. "We will continue to do everything we can to help migrants become self-sufficient, while finding more opportunities to save taxpayer money and turn the page on this unprecedented humanitarian crisis.”
There are currently under 51,000 migrants receiving city shelter services, down from a high of over 69,000 in January of 2024 and out of more than 229,000 that have arrived in New York City seeking city services since the spring of 2022.
“We have a legal and moral obligation to ensure every New Yorker has a safe and warm place to rest their head at night,” said New York State Attorney General Letitia James. “But the conditions at the Hall Street shelter have not been working for its residents or the broader community. I thank City Hall for making the tough decision to close the shelter while ensuring that all the residents have another place to stay.”
The city anticipates partnering with local nonprofits that provide services to migrants in an effort to help them take the next steps in their journeys towards self-sufficiency.
“Following significant advocacy from me and my constituents in Clinton Hill, as well as partners like the New York Immigration Coalition, I applaud the effort to finally close the Hall Street HERRC and end this separate and unequal shelter system for newly arrived asylum seekers,” said New York City Council Member Crystal Hudson. “I’m glad there’s a plan to responsibly transition existing residents to a new location. While this happens, we must also ensure the rich communities our diverse immigrant populations have established are maintained and that they can continue to have every single resource they need to thrive in their new home.”
