Bayside Hotel Housing Asylum Seekers Replaces Men With Families

BAYSIDE, QUEENS — An emergency shelter for asylum seekers in Bayside replaced the over 100 men that were staying in the facility with families over the weekend, according to Council Member Vickie Paladino.

Paladino said that officials removed 116 men from the Anchor Inn Hotel in Bayside and bussed them to a facility in Staten Island. Six men stayed at the hotel because they have been employed.

The men were replaced with about 15 families as of Monday night.

"These rooms at the Anchor Inn are very small, they cannot accommodate large families," Paladino, who represents the district, said on Tuesday.

The rooms can accommodate about two to three people.

The Anchor Inn Hotel on Northern Boulevard and 215th Street turned into an emergency shelter in mid-April as asylum seekers continue to arrive in New York City, with officials scrambling to find space to shelter them.

On Tuesday, Mayor Eric Adams suggested that twenty city public school gyms could be used to house asylum seekers. The city saw 4,200 asylum seekers arrive in the city last week.

Paladino said that District 19 schools were not expected to be used as shelters.