New York Mayor Renews Executive Order to Expand Homeless Shelter Capacity during Refugee Crisis

With the humanitarian crisis that New York is facing, given the continuous arrival of asylum seekers, Mayor Adams renewed the executive order that temporarily suspends some rules around the historic law on the right to housing, seeking to expedite the process of locating those who They are homeless and building new shelters.

The decision to extend the executive order is given as a way to make refuge spaces more flexible, since, as municipal officials explain, the capacity of the shelters has reached its limit.

The measure will last another five days from this Tuesday.

With this new ordinance, the city will not be required to hold hearings or submit to the approvals normally required to approve land use when establishing new shelters.

Adams announced an executive order on May 10, but it was only in effect for five days.

Some organizations have disagreed with the measure, arguing that migrants will be put in places where they will not live properly.

“The city must expedite the movement of individuals and families from shelters to permanent housing through grant programs,” said Theodore Moore, NYIC Vice President of Policy and Programs.

“They should, for example, remove the 90-day shelter rule, which says you have to stay in a shelter for 90 days before you can apply for rental assistance, and lastly, they should expand eligibility for subsidy programs like City Fheps for asylum seekers and other New Yorkers,” Moore added.

Several of the shelters are hotels like the Marriott Courtyard located here in East Elmhurst, Queens.

“I have just arrived for two days and I see that everything is far away, we are like on the highway, we don’t know where there is anything. So since we are newly arrived, how do you say, we arrive, just as we are with the clothes we have on us. The deal Yes, they have treated us well,” said Leonel Linares.

According to the local government, since the spring of last year, more than 64,000 asylum seekers have been treated, and 150 emergency sites have been opened, including 8 Humanitarian Emergency Response and Aid Centers, the ninth to be opened in the following days.