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In another sign New York City is grappling with an increase of migrants entering the shelter system, the city has officially opened a sprawling, 84,000-square-foot emergency shelter on Manhattan’s Randall’s Island.
ABC News and other outlets were given a first look inside the center, opening Wednesday, which has a total footprint of 6.4 acres encompassing dormitories, dining facilities, recreation centers and isolation centers for migrants that may contract COVID-19 or other communicable diseases.
The decision to open the center comes amid an effort spearheaded by Texas Gov. Abbott to bus migrants to Democrat-led cities.
While Abbott’s efforts have been criticized as a political stunt to call attention to a broken immigration system, a spokesperson for Mayor Eric Adams that more than 20,500 asylum-seekers have moved through the shelter system since spring, with a majority of them arriving on buses from Texas.
„This situation is caused by political actors, as you know, and New York City is just having to respond and prepare for more people to arrive,“ said Manuel Castro, commissioner of the NYC Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs.
