NYC to close migrant shelter at Brooklyn airfield by early 2025
New York City is closing one of its largest migrant shelters “in the coming two months,” Mayor Eric Adams announced Tuesday.
The Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Center at Floyd Bennett Field, located at a former airfield in the borough of Brooklyn, joins a growing list of 25 shelters the city has either closed or is in the processing of shutting down.
“Thanks to our smart management strategies, we’ve turned the corner, and this additional slate of shelter closures we’re announcing today is even more proof that we’re managing this crisis better than any other city in the nation,” Mayor Adams said in the statement, which further noted that "the number of asylum seekers in city shelters has decreased for 22 straight weeks and is now at its lowest point in over 17 months."
News of the closure also comes ahead of President-elect Trump taking office. The Floyd Bennett Field site, which can house up to 2,000 people, was of particular concern among some immigrant rights advocates because it's situated on federal land that's leased by the city. Advocates are worried that the incoming Trump administration might target those housed at the site as part of the president-elect's campaign promise to deport undocumented immigrants.
Others also expressed concerns that the facility, which is in a flood zone, was unequipped to safely provide shelter for asylum seekers.
“While we welcome this closure, one which we have long advocated for because this site was never an appropriate setting for families with children and raised concerns about families’ safety, we are mindful of the disruption it causes to the families we serve, who above all else are longing for stability," the Coalition for the Homeless and the Legal Aid Society said in in a joint statement, in part.
“Lastly, in preparation for the president-elect’s plans to implement mass deportations nationwide, we are closely monitoring these closures and transfers to ensure new arrivals’ access to shelter and protection from any potential federal immigration enforcement dragnets,” the statement also noted.
In recent years, New York City has grappled with providing services to over 225,000 migrants that have arrived, many on buses from the Texas-Mexico border sent by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott since 2022.
"Our intensive case management, paired with 30- and 60-day policies, have helped more than 170,000 migrants take their next steps on their journeys, because migrants don’t come here to live in our shelter system – they come here to pursue the American Dream," Mayor Adams said in his statement. "We’re going to continue looking for more sites to consolidate and close, and more opportunities to save taxpayer money, as we continue to successfully manage this response."
Adams is scheduled to meet this week with the incoming Trump administration's border czar, Tom Homan. At a press conference Monday, the mayor said he expected to have a "host of conversations" with Homan, with the chief topic being strategies to secure the border.
