Thursday, August 24, 2023 4:14PM
NEW YORK (WABC) — Governor Kathy Hochul will deliver an address to New Yorkers Thursday on the asylum seeker crisis.
The address, originally scheduled for noon but pushed back to 1 p.m. without explanation, is expected to include calls for additional federal aid.
Both Hochul and New York City Mayor Eric Adams have been pressuring the White House for more help.
A Siena College poll earlier this week reported that most New Yorkers view the migrant situation as a serious problem and are critical of officials’ response.
Protests have been continuing over the city’s handling of the issue, as New York struggles to handle the estimated 100,000 migrants who have arrived in the city since last year after crossing the southern U.S. border.
The city is legally obligated to find shelter for anyone needing it.
With homeless shelters full, Adams has taken over hotels, put cots in recreational centers and school gyms and created temporary housing in huge tents.
On Sunday the city opened a large relief center on Randall’s Island.
It is the second time the site has been used to house asylum seekers in less than a year.
The Island is once again home to a giant emergency shelter with cots for three thousand adult asylum seekers – men and women – this time on soccer fields.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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