New York City Converts School Gyms into Shelters for Asylum Seekers Amid Homeless Crisis

NEW YORK (AP) — New York City has begun retrofitting public school gyms to accommodate international migrants, the latest plan to accommodate a growing population of asylum seekers who have overwhelmed the city’s homeless shelter system.

The move to use gyms as shelters with six weeks left in the school year sparked immediate criticism, with some parents organizing protests at various schools and threatening to keep their children at home once the migrants arrive.

Mayor Eric Adams acknowledged Tuesday that using the schools was “drastic” but insisted the city was left without options. Just last week around 4,200 migrants sought a place in the city’s shelters, the Democrat pointed out.

The use of 20 school gymnasiums for temporary shelter is currently being considered. At least one of them, in the Coney Island section of Brooklyn, already had migrants on it Tuesday. Cots and emergency rations have been delivered to several others in recent days. Adams noted that school gyms were intended to be used only for brief periods, with the goal of getting people out quickly.

“This is one of the last places we want to consider,” the mayor said.

The number of migrants entering the United States has fallen significantly after asylum restrictions put in place during the pandemic expired last week. But several cities are reporting a surge in arrivals of migrants, many of whom crossed the southern border before the policy change.

In Chicago, where authorities have reported the arrival of nearly 9,000 people since August, hundreds of migrants who have arrived since mid-April have slept on the floors of the city’s police headquarters. The city this month converted playgrounds in several parks into “temporary relief centers,” forcing the cancellation or relocation of summer programs, sparking complaints from some parents.

In Denver, Colorado, new arrivals are being turned away from overcrowded shelters.

In New York City, where a court order guarantees everyone the right to shelter, local authorities have considered several unconventional ideas to welcome their new residents. Over the weekend, the city announced it had reached an agreement to convert a historic defunct hotel into a hostel with up to 1,000 rooms.

They have also placed migrants in a New York Police Department academy and have petitioned the federal government to reopen a former military airfield.

The city has also sent migrants to northern suburbs, sparking outrage and lawsuits from local officials.

The decision to turn to school gyms struck a chord.

Parents protested Tuesday morning outside a public school in the Williamsburg sector of Brooklyn, where a brick gym was being prepared for the arrival of migrants. In the afternoon, after classes ended, the courtyard was unusually quiet. Parents noted that their children were told they were not allowed to play outside and that all after-school programs would take place indoors.

“Usually there are hundreds of kids running around at this hour, playing sports, getting all their energy out,” said Maureen Steinel, a mother of 8th grade twins, pointing to an empty stretch of asphalt now littered with cones. traffic and police barricades.

Steinel, who identifies as a progressive, said she wanted to help migrants but couldn’t understand the decision to take space away from children in schools. He ran off a list of options: City-owned community centers and college campuses, a gun store and empty luxury condos.

City officials pointed out that there were advantages to using school facilities, which are owned by the municipality and have their own staff and security. Many of the gyms were previously used as vaccine distribution centers during the pandemic.

Adams also noted that all of the gyms being considered were stand-alone facilities that were not directly connected to school buildings. It is currently unknown if they will be used by single men or by families, or how long migrants will be allowed to stay in those places.

Josh Goldfein, an attorney with the Legal Aid Society, which helps monitor the city’s treatment of the homeless, said there were issues with the city’s decision to go elsewhere outside of its standard shelter options, such as hotel rooms. He highlighted the lack of shower access and Americans with Disabilities Act compliance in some school gyms.

“If they put people in spaces that have not been used normally on previous occasions, like office buildings, tents, gyms, our level of concern is much higher,” Goldfein said.

Adams has repeatedly said that New York, a city renowned for its openness to migrants, has reached its limit for new arrivals. She has asked the federal government for help, both with funding for the city and slowing revenue at the border.