What you should know
Amid the migrant crisis on Monday, dozens of migrants were evicted from a Manhattan shelter due to an inadequate fire alarm system, the City of New York reported. In total 130 single men were removed from Touro University in Manhattan, which had been in operation for about three months, and during that time the Fire Department took measures such as hiring fire guards to supplement the inadequate fire alarm system. However, due to concern they were evicted. The measure came the same day that Governor Kathy Hochul announced that she extended the state of emergency that gives the State greater flexibility to obtain the resources necessary for municipalities to support asylum seekers and provide them with humanitarian aid.
In the midst of the immigration crisis, dozens of migrants were evicted from a Manhattan shelter on Monday due to an inadequate fire alarm system, the City of New York reported.
In total 130 single men were removed from Touro University in Manhattan, which had been in operation for about three months, and during that time the Fire Department took steps such as hiring fire guards to supplement the inadequate fire alarm system. However, due to concern they were evicted.
Many of them with nowhere to go.
“As the city continues to receive thousands of asylum seekers weekly, we immediately worked with our agencies to ensure the safety of all those in our care. With more than 65,600 migrants currently housed in more than 213 emergency sites and hundreds of asylum seekers still arriving in the city every day asking for shelter, our public servants continue to work miracles, identifying new places every day for seekers to sleep of asylum. Asylum seekers have endured long and arduous journeys before arriving in New York City, and we are committed to keeping them safe while they remain in emergency shelters. By identifying emergency sites, we work with agencies to ensure we are taking appropriate fire protection measures,” Mayor Eric Adams’ office said in a statement.
The measure came the same day that Governor Kathy Hochul announced that she extended the state of emergency that gives the state greater flexibility to obtain the necessary resources for municipalities to support asylum seekers and provide them with humanitarian aid.
The most populous city in the United States has struggled to cope with the arrival of more than 120,000 asylum seekers last year. About 60,000 are currently in shelters run by the city, which is required by law to provide emergency housing to the homeless. The obligation is unmatched in any other major city in the United States.
Mayor Eric Adams announced in July that New York would begin giving adult immigrants a 60-day notice to leave the city’s shelters. The policy has since been expanded to families with children and reduced to 30 days for adults not accompanied by children.
Immigrants, many of whom do not have legal authorization to work, can reapply for refuge if they cannot find another place to live.
Since the initial 60-day policy went into effect, about 3,025 notices have expired, the Daily News reported Friday. Health and Human Services Deputy Mayor Anne Williams-Isom said Tuesday that about “less than 50%” of people requested to stay; The newspaper estimated that there were about 1,500 people.
Williams-Isom presented the statistic as a sign that the policy was prompting people to find their own housing.
A Legal Aid Society lawyer didn’t see it that way.
“It would make more sense to step up actual case management and help people get out on a schedule that’s appropriate for them, rather than arbitrarily telling them they have to come back” and reapply on a specific day, said attorney Josh Goldfein to the Daily News.
So far, the city has served out at least 13,500 of the 60-day notices, many of which have not yet expired, according to the newspaper.
2023-10-24 15:17:25
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