He added: “We continue to surpass both our moral and legal obligations and meet the needs of people arriving in New York, but as the number of asylum seekers continues to grow, we are in serious need of support from both our state and federal governments.”
The first occupants will be relocated from the Watson Hotel in Midtown Manhattan; the cruise terminal will also house newly arriving adult men as space allows. The Watson Hotel will then be used to serve families with children who are seeking asylum.
The announcement was criticized by advocacy groups, particularly for the choice of location: far from the subway, close to wintry waterfront winds and in a high-risk flood zone, according to the city’s maps.
The emergency center “will needlessly expose future residents to the elements during some of the coldest months of the year,” the Legal Aid Society and the Coalition for the Homeless said in a joint statement. The city last year had proposed the first location for an emergency center on Orchard Beach in the Bronx, but it halted construction and abandoned the idea when the site flooded during a rainstorm.
“Hotels have always been the better short-term option, in contrast to erecting tents in inaccessible parts of New York City that are prone to flooding,” the groups added. “Continuing to move asylum seekers around the boroughs like chess pieces is callous and indicative of City Hall’s failure to competently manage this crisis.”
New York City to Open Migrant Shelter at Brooklyn Cruise Terminal
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