Sandy MaloneBy Sandy Malone and Holly Matkin
New York, NY – New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced on Monday morning that one of the solutions for housing the swarm of thousands of undocumented immigrants arriving in the Big Apple would be for residents to start renting out spare rooms to them (video below).
The press conference on June 5 was held to announce a two-year partnership between the city and New York Disaster Interfaith Services (NYDIS) that would provide funding to 50 houses of worship to house up 1,000 migrants, with potential for expansion, WABC reported.
The overnight shelter centers will offer “a full suite of services, including dining and social areas, shower facilities, meals, storage space, and more,” according to the mayor’s office.
But Adams said it wasn’t sustainable to keep putting undocumented immigrants in crisis housing and shelters for long, WABC reported.
That was when Adams announced his long-term plans for housing the flood of migrants the sanctuary city has attracted over the past few months in the spare bedrooms of New Yorkers.
“It is my vision to take the next step to this, to go to the faith-based locales and then move to private residents, there are residents who are suffering right now because of economic challenges,” the mayor said.
“They have spare rooms, they have locales and if we can find a way to get over the 30-day rule and other rules that government has in its place, we can take that $4.2 billion, $4.3 maybe now, that we potentially will have to spend, and we can put it back in the pockets of everyday New Yorkers, everyday houses of worship, instead of putting it in the pockets of corporations,” he proposed.
Social media went crazy after clips of his speech were released.
A number of people pointed out that the mayor’s residence and the Governor’s Mansion both have a slew of spare bedrooms.
“You first, Mayor Adam’s – I’m sure the governor’s mansion has plenty of room,” one person tweeted.
“That would be a good idea, start with people who support open borders and illegal immigration,” another person tweeted.
In May, the New York Police Department (NYPD) converted part of an active, working police facility into housing for undocumented immigrants in a move that raised criticism about the threat to public safety.
The makeshift shelter was erected in the first-floor gymnasium of the nine-story working police facility on East 20th Street, the New York City Patch reported.
Although officials initially vowed the facility would only be used to house males, sources said women, children, and families are among those staying there, according to Spectrum News.
“That is not an appropriate place for children,” said Women In Need CEO and President Christine Quinn, who is also a former New York City councilmember.
“The city cannot shelter families with children in congregate settings,” the Legal Aid Society told Spectrum News. “Private sleeping quarters are required for families’ safety, for mothers to privately nurse newborns, to reduce the transmission of infectious diseases, and to prevent sexual assault.”
New York City Police Benevolent Association (PBA) President Patrick Lynch said the city’s decision to place hundreds of asylum seekers in an operating police facility was a colossal mistake.
“It is a significant risk to house civilians in an active, working police facility, which means a large contingent of police officers will need to be posted there for both the safety of the migrants and the security of the building,” Lynch said in a statement, according to the New York City Patch.
The supposed solution simply dumped yet another societal problem onto police, he added.
“It’s a waste of resources and a frankly inhumane arrangement,” Lynch said. “This decision needs to be rethought.”
One NYPD officer serving in Manhattan told the New York Post the situation “will be a security nightmare.”
“They will have to put cops at all the doorways, plus over a hundred cops are assigned there with lockers where they have their guns,” the officer said.
He noted that very little is known about the migrants who are being housed in the police facility.
“None of these people have been vetted,” he told the New York Post.
See the mayor’s proposal in the video below:
WATCH: NYC Mayor Eric Adams on housing illegal aliens:
“It is my vision to take the next step to this — go to the faith-based locales and then move to a private residence. There are residents who are suffering right now because of economic challenges. They have spare rooms." pic.twitter.com/ZVy41liS9g
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) June 5, 2023
Holly Matkin
