NYC mayor says all boroughs will host migrants: 'No one gets a pass'
Mayor Eric Adams declared a state of emergency last week
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}New York City Mayor Eric Adams said Tuesday that every New York City community would see asylum seekers in the coming days.
"Staten Island and other communities, they are going to – everyone is going to see asylum seekers. So, all the calls that I'm getting from elected officials, all the calls that I'm hearing from people of saying, you know, 'Please, not here…' That just can't happen. This is a citywide crisis and all of us are going to be impacted. Staten Island is going to be impacted like the other four boroughs."
On Friday, the mayor declared a state of emergency over the approximately 18,000 migrants being sent from southern border states since the spring, saying the demand being put on the city to provide housing and other assistance is "not sustainable."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Adams said that the city expects to spend at least $1 billion by the end of the fiscal year on the crisis and that it would surpass the highest number of people in recorded history in its shelter system.
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Eric Adams attends a student screening of "Till" during the 60th New York Film Festival at Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center on October 03, 2022 in New York City. ((Photo by Dominik Bindl/Getty Images))
"We have not asked for this. There was never any agreement to take on the job of supporting thousands of asylum seekers. This responsibility was simply handed to us without warning as buses began showing up. There is no playbook for this, no precedent," he noted then. "But despite all this, our city’s response has been nothing short of heroic. From setting up welcome centers, organizing housing, health care and transportation, New York City agencies and their community partners have done great work in the face of overwhelming need."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Adams said Tuesday that he believed New York would "start seeing some of the influx of assistance" it needs, and his office had been communicating with federal state partners.
In addition, he said he would be visiting a facility that is being set up for migrants on Randall's Island, in addition to other emergency shelters.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - OCTOBER 9: Venezuelan asylum seekers leave an Immigrants Information center in Manhattan on October 9, 2022 in New York City. NYC Mayor Eric Adams declared a state of emergency in response to thousands of migrants bused to the city in recent months from the U.S. southern border. ((Photo by Kena Betancur/VIEWpress via Getty Images))
The mayor noted that some of the "loudest" elected voices on the issue have been "the least benevolent."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"No, you can't have it both ways. Either we're in this together, or we're not. And, I'm not listening to that. No one gets a pass during an emergency. Everyone must do their share. And, if they're willing to stand up and hold a press conference in a district and say, 'we don't want any asylum seekers here,' then they can do that. If not, we're going to look at any available space to find it," he said.
Shelters are built to help handle an influx of asylum-seekers, on Randall's Island in New York City on October 10, 2022. - New York City Mayor Eric Adams has declared a state of emergency, calling for additional funding to help cover the cost of housing needed to assist an influx of migrants arriving from Latin America. ((Photo by YUKI IWAMURA/AFP via Getty Images))
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"But, far too many of the loudest have become silent when it's time to do what they have been advocating for. That's what's interesting," Adams added.
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Responding to a question about migrants who had been sent to Staten Island, the mayor said he could not give people a month's heads up and that he wasn't sure people understand the "seriousness of this moment."