The first of two tent towns, intended to house the 13,000 migrants who have been bussed into the Bronx from Texas since August, was being built by construction workers on Monday.
New York City’s mayor, Eric Adams, declared last week that tents will be built to accommodate the inflow of refugees.
He mentioned two locations: Orchard Beach in the Bronx and an undetermined third.
But on Monday, as work was getting started, the Bronx president expressed her worries about the new project, including how it would affect her neighborhood and how it would affect everyone’s safety.
Vanessa Gibson cautioned against visiting Orchard Beach since it regularly floods and noted that it is a remote area without access to public transportation.
In a statement, she added, “My staff and I are working with the Adams administration to ensure that any site identified for our burrow provides wraparound services, even though this is not the optimal location and we have voiced fair concerns.”
These services must be offered in a respectful, compassionate, high-quality, and secure environment that doesn’t do more damage than good or place an additional strain on clients and families.
“Under these emergency conditions, we will collaborate with the government in a thoughtful and calculated way to prevent the Bronx from being overloaded.”
The Adams team promised to offer a shuttle bus so that immigrants may use public transportation. Concerns of floods have not received a response from them.
Despite declining to explicitly address Gibson’s claim, a spokesperson for the mayor told The New York Daily News that 50 locations from all five boroughs had been considered before the Orchard Beach site was chosen.
Last week, Adams hailed the proposal as a success and evidence that he is aware of his “moral obligation” to the tens of thousands of migrants, mostly from Venezuela, who are presently arriving in New York City each week.
He didn’t specify in his press release when the locations would open or, more importantly, how many beds they will have.
In a few weeks, the Orchard Beach location is anticipated to open.
Meanwhile, Texas and Florida continue to send thousands of migrants every week, and Republican leaders believe it’s time for Democrats like Adams to see the actual scope of the situation.
Adams has given Bronx Family Network a $34 million contract in addition to the two migrant camps to build up beds for both migrants and the homeless in the same location.
In a press statement on Thursday, Adams said that the new relief facilities would assist address the issue in New York: “More than 100 years ago, Ellis Island opened its doors to welcome individuals’ yearning to breathe free.
It is more obvious than ever that we are once again faced with a humanitarian catastrophe brought on by human activity.
New York City, he stated, “refuses to abandon its moral responsibility to help incoming asylum applicants.”
Photos of a sample location show the outdoor tent’s cot beds arranged in rows.
According to Adams, they would only remain there for up to 96 hours before being transferred to their preferred “settlement” locations.
He said, “This is not a regular homeless situation; this is a humanitarian disaster that calls for a different strategy.”
Because of this, asylum seekers will initially contact the Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Centers, which will provide them a variety of services and assistance while families decide what to do next.
“As we continue to seek help from our federal and state partners to continue this effort, this emergency reaction exemplifies what we know must be done during this humanitarian catastrophe.”
According to Adams, “New York will provide the thousands of people who are now settling in our city the basis to construct a better life, like the generations who came to our city before them.”