'Plenty of questions': Queens BP wants details as city considers 2 new migrant shelters

The Adams administration is considering setting up two more shelters for migrants in Queens. It’s a move that could overwhelm the borough and its residents if it isn’t done properly, according to some officials.

“I think there will be plenty of questions in the days to come if you’re adding thousands of people to local neighborhoods,” Queens Borough President Donovan Richards Jr. told Gothamist on Sunday. “And those are rightful questions that our constituents should raise.”

Richards said he is expecting to hear in the coming days whether the city will move forward with establishing the new shelters at the Creedmoor Psychiatric Center campus in Eastern Queens and at Aqueduct Racetrack in Southern Queens. If it happens, the borough president is calling on Mayor Eric Adams to a community advisory board to work alongside the city on these new migrant shelters.

The expiration of a pandemic-era measure that once quelled the number of asylum-seekers crossing the border into the U.S. expired earlier this year. And New York – which is a sanctuary city, offering certain legal protections to these migrants – is welcoming thousands of asylum-seekers each week. Providing shelter – and other resources – to these migrants is expected to cost the city billions, according to Adams’ top budget officials, and finding enough space to house them all is becoming a challenge.

Officials are scrambling to find space for migrants in neighboring counties, airport warehouses and are even considering the mayor’s own residence as an option. Despite this, these new arrivals are reportedly contending with subpar conditions – including no place to shower – to the point where they’re even turning to strangers for help.

The Adams administration told Richards about the proposal on Saturday evening, the borough president said.

“It’s nothing definitive as we speak, although the news has broken that the city is certainly looking at both of these proposed sites,” he said. “There’s still a lot more information that I’m waiting on before I can make a judgment call on how we proceed.”

He added that he is “preparing for the worst.”

The mayor's office told Gothamist that the only relief center currently set to open that has yet to do so is the one announced earlier this month at 47 Hall St. in Brooklyn.

“As the mayor has said, all options are on the table as we deal with this crisis and no humanitarian relief centers are final until announced," mayoral spokesperson Kate Smart said. "With over 53,000 asylum seekers currently in the city’s care, we need additional support from state and federal partners.”

Richards said he has no problem establishing migrant shelters in his borough – but he is concerned about public safety to transportation to whether there will be enough places where they can shower. Richards also said he is still waiting on information from the city on the number of migrants in Queens.

The borough president reiterated previous comments made by both the mayor and the New York City Council over the need for more assistance from the White House. In a statement on Sunday, Richards called on the Biden administration to “move with the urgency of now to allow our asylum seekers to gain employment immediately,” by granting them work authorizations.

But Adams has also gone head-to-head with other local elected officials over finding solutions to skyrocketing rent in the city.

The New York City Council approved a package of bills that would offer rental assistance to residents – which Adams swiftly vetoed. Last week, the Council overrode the mayor’s veto which means the legislation could potentially lead to a court battle in the future. Providing more assistance for New Yorkers, advocates argue, will free up more space in shelters for migrants.

“We talk about the need for affordable housing, we talk about infrastructure, we talk about school seats,” he said. “So even as the administration entertains these sites, I want to hear about what these investments are going to look like as we move into the future.”

This story has been updated with comment from mayoral spokesperson Kate Smart.