Central Park Eyed As Potential Site For Migrant Tents: Report

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — Mayor Adams is weighing a plan to house migrants in tents pitched inside the city's major green spaces — including Central Park — according to a report.

On Wednesday, Gothamist reported that two insiders say city hall is examining the idea in an attempt to keep up with the unending influx of asylum seekers in a city where officials say there are limited options to house people.

In response to the sight of 150 migrants sleeping on the sidewalk outside of Midtown's Roosevelt Hotel, a migrant intake center, Mayor Adams said "we have run out of room," and that the city would "figure out how to localize the inevitable now that there's no more room indoors."

While it wasn't clear what the Mayor of the largest city in the country meant by "localize," the "indoors" part might prove to be the most consequential.

Gothamist reports that the city is looking at erecting tents in Central Park, Prospect Park and Randalls Island — the site of a tent facility nearly a year ago. According to Daily News reporting, officials are also examining utilizing soccer fields as sites for tents.

At a press conference Wednesday, Deputy Mayor Anne Williams-Isom said that "all options are on the table" when asked by a reporter to comment on Gothamist's story.

Williams-Isom described the situation as similar to the early days of the pandemic, "when we were like, 'Where do we need to be and what is possible?'"

"People on the one hand cannot accuse us of not having enough space, of telling us not to go to certain places, and then on the other hand, tell us, 'Well, you can't go here and you can't go there,'" she said.

A mayoral spokesperson told Gothamist that while the city has struggled to meet the needs of the over 95,000 asylum seekers who have come to New York City in the past year, children and families are still able to be given a bed every night.

Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine told the news site that he was concerned about the plan. “It’s a reminder we’re desperate for federal and state intervention,” he told Gothamist, echoing a concern from many local officials who say aid so far has been insufficient.

A spokesperson for Council Member Keith Powers did not return a request for comment about the potential plans.

Roughly 56,000 asylum seekers remain in the city's care across a constellation of shelters, relief centers and massive humanitarian sites, which soon will include a location for 1,000 single adult men near a Queens psychiatric center.

Adams recently announce a 60-day limit for asylum seekers staying in city shelters.