20 NYC Public School Gyms Could House Asylum Seekers, Mayor Says

NEW YORK CITY — Twenty New York City public school gyms could be used to house asylum seekers, Mayor Eric Adams said Tuesday.

Adams stressed during an interview with FOX5 that such a move would be a last resort, but said a growing surge of asylum seekers could force his hand.

"We have not identified that this is going to happen," he said. "This is not every school gym in our cities. These are self-standing gyms that are not inside the school buildings."

The mayor's comments come as the city saw 4,200 asylum seekers arrive in the city last week.

The influx has prompted Adams and city officials to undertake a spate of controversial steps — including suspending "right-to-shelter" rules and shipping people to nearby counties — to house the asylum seekers, especially after the expiration of federal Title 42 which had been housed to turn away migrants at the U.S. border.

Proposals to set up temporary shelters for migrants in school gyms, however, have been met by outrage from many parents.

Parents at P.S. 172 in Sunset Park camped outside the school in protest of plans to put asylum seekers in its gym, CBS New York first reported. Schools previously reported to be used as temporary shelters are in Coney Island, Crown Heights and several in Williamsburg.

Adams said "everything is on the table," including reopening a tent city in Randall's Island, as the city struggles to find housing for migrants.

"We have to create a list of locations because the flow has not stopped and it doesn't look like it's going to stop," he told FOX5.