NYC to close Randall’s Island migrant shelter in February
Image courtesy of Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office on Flickr
The migrant shelter on Randall’s Island that once housed 3,000 adults will close early next year as the number of asylum seekers arriving in New York City declines. Mayor Eric Adams on Wednesday announced the humanitarian relief center will shut down at the end of February, following a 14-week decline in the number of migrants living in city shelters, which is now at its lowest point in over a year. In the coming months, the city will gradually reduce the center’s population and begin restoring the island’s athletic fields and parkland.
The Adams administration credits its push for executive orders at the United States-Mexico border and strategies like reticketing, case management, and 30- and 60-day notices for the city’s recovery from the migrant crisis.
Capacity has already begun to decrease at the relief center, with the city already having taken down its largest residential tent which contained more than 750 beds. The city has also started restoring one of the athletic fields, available for use in the coming months.
“Since the spring of 2022, we have had nearly a quarter million people come through our system in New York City. Roughly seven in 10 of those seeking asylum have moved on to the next part of their journey, and today’s announcement is another step on our path through our humanitarian response,” Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services Anne Williams-Isom said.
“With 14 straight weeks of lower numbers of new arrivals seeking asylum, we are now able to transition from this large humanitarian relief center, which is a step in the right direction.”
The city opened the Randall’s Island relief center in November 2022, only to close it a month later after it sat mostly unoccupied. The huge tent shelter is located on the park’s East River Fields, used for soccer and other sports.
When the first center opened, some city officials and immigration advocates took issue with the shelter’s isolated location and close proximity to the water which would make it extremely cold during the winter and prone to flooding, according to City Limits.
In August 2023, the city announced plans to build a new humanitarian relief center on the island for 2,000 single adult men seeking asylum, as the number of migrants arriving in the city continued to increase at an exponential rate.
New York State reimbursed the city for the associated costs of the site, including construction, maintenance, and staffing, according to the Adams administration.
The New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC), an advocacy organization that represents over 200 immigrant and refugee rights groups throughout New York, welcomed the news of the Randall’s Island shelter closing and said other similar sites should also close.
“We encourage the City to close other inhumane HERRCs (especially Floyd Bennet Field, which subjugates families to unsafe conditions), and to ensure that anyone who needs it has access to safe and dignified shelter. Our industries need new workers, our schools need new students, and our culture needs new life,” Murad Awawdeh, president of the New York Immigration Coalition, said in a statement.
“To move into a future where we can seize on the vast opportunity that asylum seekers present to New York, we call on the Adams administration to expand access to CityFHEPS housing vouchers to low-income New Yorkers regardless of immigration status, invest in legal services to get people on the path to legal status and work authorizations, and end the 30- and 60-day shelter limits. The City must enable our newest neighbors to put down roots in a community, so that they can thrive in their new lives as New Yorkers and more successfully contribute to our economy and culture.”
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