NYC Gazette

New York City Mayor Eric Adams recently announced several measures to address the lack of housing and care for migrants in the city.

As a self-proclaimed Sanctuary City, New York accepts and houses any migrants that make their way to the city. With the recent overturning of Title 42, the resulting massive surge of border crossings has led to an influx of migrants to the city seeking asylum, according to Emergency Executive Order 422. The city now faces a humanitarian crisis as it strains to meet the needs of more than 46,000 migrants currently sheltering there.

“As we continue to tackle this humanitarian crisis, I’m proud that through this new partnership with New York Disaster Interfaith Services, New York City’s faith community will be able to provide shelter to asylum seekers in need at houses of worship throughout the five boroughs," Adams said in a June 5 news release. "Not only will this increase the space we have by nearly 1,000 beds, but it will also connect asylum seekers with local communities. New York City continues to do all that we can to address this crisis, but we need additional assistance from other partners.”

The city has declared a two-year partnership with New York Disaster Interfaith Services, the release reported. This arrangements will allow up to 50 houses of worship or faith-based spaces to offer overnight shelter for up to 19 single adult men at each location.

Under this partnership, faith services would provide shelter to migrants overnight while the city opens five new day centers to care for them during the day so the faith centers can conduct regular services at that time, according to the release. 

During a June 5 news conference from the mayor’s office, Adams announced the partnership with faith-based organizations for overnight housing, and a request for private residences to open up their doors.

Pastor Gil Monrose, executive director of the mayor’s office of faith-based and community partnerships, called the crisis an opportunity, according to the conference.

“New York City is the city of immigrants, as attested by the words of Emma Lazarus engraved on the inner pedestal of the Statue of Liberty: ‘Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,’" Monrose said in the news conference. "I am really grateful that faith leaders are opening their doors to asylum seekers — providing their space as well as the hands of the community to care for them. New York is truly a city of faith.”

“It is my vision to take the next step to this faith-based locales and then move to a private residence,” Adams said during the news conference. “There are residents who are suffering right now because of economic challenges. They have spare rooms, they have locales and we can find a way to get over the 30-day rule and other rules that government has in in this place. We can take that $4.2 billion, $4.3 even maybe now, that we potentially have to spend and we can put it back into pockets of everyday New Yorkers, everyday houses of worship instead of putting in the pockets of corporations and some of those corporations come from outside our city. We should be recycling our own dollars. We should take this crisis and go to opportunities.”