Metro

Adams administration eyes more than 3,000 NYC sites to house migrants — but won’t say if Central Park is included

NYC Mayor's office announces new program aimed at having college kids help migrants apply for asylum
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Mayor Adams’ administration is looking at over 3,000 sites to place asylum seekers — and would not say whether the possible locations include Central Park — in the wake of the mayor’s comments that the migrant crisis is “coming to a neighborhood near you.”

There are nearly 108,000 people at 194 shelters across the Big Apple — pushing city officials to get creative when looking for places to erect new migrant housing.

Deputy Mayor Anne Williams-Isom skirted around whether migrant tents would be set up in Central Park, telling reporters on Wednesday that while there is a “constantly refreshing” list of possible sites, the situation is “at a breaking point.”

“Over 3,000 sites have been reviewed throughout the city to place people,” she said, without giving specifics on what sites they were looking at.

While officials have issued 800 “60-day notices,” to adult migrants — no migrants have reached the 60-day cap and been forced to reapply for shelter placement.

“We just started on July 26…last Monday. What we’re seeing is the ongoing struggle of a system that is bustling with 500 people a day – and so that is a struggle that we’re having right now,” Williams-Isom said.

“The 60 days wouldn’t be up yet.”

Mayor Adams’ administration is looking at over 3,000 sites to place asylum seekers and would not say whether the possible locations include Central Park. UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

As New York City is inundated by incoming migrants — with dozens sleeping outside the intake center at Roosevelt Hotel — city officials say over 95,600 asylum seekers have come since last spring and over 57,200 currently live in taxpayer-funded shelters.

News of the city reviewing thousands of sites to place migrant shelters comes as Adams’ administration is eyeing heavily used kiddie soccer fields on Randall’s Island for migrant housing.

When asked about the controversial plan, which would take over Randall’s Fields 82, 83, 84 and 85, Williams-Isom said the city was weighing many options.

“I think when we originally did our tent in Randall’s Island, that was probably 30,000 migrants ago,” Williams-Isom said.

“And so we are here now trying to make sure that we looked at all the options on the table and that we’re able to provide for, and prioritize children and families.”

This comes in the wake of the mayor’s comments that the migrant crisis is “coming to a neighborhood near you.” ZUMAPRESS.com / MEGA

About 200 exhausted migrants remained stuck outside of the converted Roosevelt Hotel in Midtown Manhattan in a lengthy line that did not move at all on Thursday. 

Some migrants have been forced to sleep outside as they’ve been forced to wait days for a bed with no clear answer as to if or when they will be let inside.

Savi Khalil, 31, from Mauritania, told The Post he had been waiting in line since 5 a.m. on Tuesday and had been sleeping on the sidewalk with other migrants.

“They haven’t told us anything else. No one has told us how long we will wait. Some people are on their fourth day here,” he said. “Will we be here for weeks, sleeping on the street?”

Here's everything to know about the migrant shelter being built on Randall's Island

A migrant shelter will be built for 2,000 men on Randall’s Island’s kiddie soccer fields, with construction starting as early as Monday.

Mayor Adams said the state would be “covering the costs” of the shelter’s construction, maintenance and staffing, although officials have yet to say how much that will be.

Sources told The Post last week that the upcoming shelter is expected to be four times the size of what City Hall put on the island for migrants in the fall.

Opponents of the new planned shelter raged to The Post last week that the project flies in the face of decades of efforts to build up the sports fields for young people, including those looking for positive ways to stay off the streets.

“Behind every hour lost are dozens of New York City children who are denied space and time to play,” Randall’s Island Park Alliance co-Chairs Jonathan May and Nancy Neff wrote in a blistering letter to Deputy Mayor for Operations Meera Joshi said.

Married couple Natalia Subbotin, a 26-year-old college professor, and Maksim Subbotina, a 26-year-old journalist, got in line around 9 a.m. Thursday after they were given the hotel address by an immigration official and promised a bed.

Now they’re prepared to sleep on the street.

“When we went inside the hotel, they said they only have beds for women with children, not married couples,” Natalia told The Post.“Now we are out on the street. I feel dizzy, tired and uncomfortable. 

“There is no order here (in the Roosevelt Hotel line),” she continued. “No one has any answers. We don’t know when we will get accommodation. I am frustrated. I think we will have to sleep here (on the sidewalk) tonight, we have no other choice.”

Deputy Mayor Anne Williams-Isom skirted around whether migrant tents would be set up in Central Park, telling reporters on Wednesday that while there is a “constantly refreshing” list of possible sites, the situation is “at a breaking point.” Seth Gottfried

The couple, who are seeking asylum in the US, said they fled the political situation in Russia and entered the country legally after flying from Moscow to Mexico and waiting for three months in Mexico for an interview using the CBP One app.

They crossed into San Diego on July 31 and flew to JFK airport before walking all the way to the DHS/Adult Family Intake Center on 30th Street in Manhattan where they were given the hotel address.

Father of two William Jarafeth, 37, from Honduras, said he slept on the sidewalk outside of the hotel on Wednesday night after he was not allowed in.

“I’m tired. I want to bathe, change my clothes and sleep in a bed, but I can’t,” he said, adding that he came to America to support his sick child back home.

“I didn’t expect to be treated like this. I expected America to be a little more welcoming and give us a little more help,” he said.