Wednesday, August 9, 2023 10:44AM
MIDTOWN (WABC) — Mayor Eric Adams said it’s time for New Yorkers to step up and help in any way they can because there is no end in sight.
More buses with migrants were expected to arrive later Wednesday morning.
On Tuesday, migrants got off the bus at the Port Authority and then walked into Midtown.
The city will open a shelter on soccer fields on Randall’s Island, and a relief center at the former Creedmoor Psychiatric Center in Queens.
The first shelter on Randall’s Island cost $16 million, and it shut down just weeks later due to lack of use.
This time, both of these new facilities will reportedly be state funded.
Mayor Adams says he’s in constant communication with the state regarding the crisis, but he city has yet to get the federal help it needs.
With the lack of help and no end in sight, Adams says we could see what happened in front of the Roosevelt Hotel last week happen again.
Migrants were sleeping on the sidewalk in a line wrapped around the block.
“We can’t do this alone. This is all hands on deck. The dollars coming in are not equaling the dollars we have to pay going out. We are going to do our part to the best of our ability within the financial restraint, but we have a real call. We need every New Yorker that has something to offer to play a role,” Adams said.
Tuesday evening, hundreds of people protested the city’s plans to build the relief center at the former Creedmoor Psychiatric Center.
Neighborhood residents cited safety concerns, saying the people staying at the center would not be vetted.
City leaders are going to talk about the migrant crisis budget Wednesday.
It’s likely they’ll announce the city will surpass the projected $4 billion it planned to spend in the next year.
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