NYC Migrant Tents Might Violate Right-To-Shelter Rule, Mayor Says

NEW YORK CITY — The massive tents where the city plans to house 1,000 incoming migrants might not comply with city rules mandating the right to shelter, but Mayor Eric Adams argued that's okay because the migrant crisis isn't about housing.

Adams fielded questions Tuesday about the planned 1,000-migrant tent camp to be built in Orchard Beach he announced last week via a much-maligned press release scant on details.

Among reporters' questions, would the tents meet the right-to-shelter standard, set by the Callahan Consent Decree of 1981, which mandates the city provide a bed with a mattress, clean bedding, a towel and a lockable bin to anyone who needs one?

"The migrant crisis is outside of the housing initiative that we're doing in the city for right-to-shelter," Adams replied.

"These are two different entities. This is a crisis of migrants and asylum seekers, and that is how we're responding to it."

Top Shelter Standards Defined By The Callahan Consent Decree

While Adams provided some detail — namely that the Orchard Beach camp will house men, the site was chosen among 50 other options, and the city has received an influx of 13,000 migrants — other questions remain unanswered.

It remains unclear, for example, when the camp will open. City Hall officials told Patch they'd keep us posted.

Advocates with The Legal Aid Society and the Coalition for the Homeless note Adams' administration pledged to fully comply with the right-to-shelter's rule that all asylum seekers who need a bed would receive one.

But they also raised questions about how city officials will comply with other requirements.

"We still have many outstanding questions and concerns relating to the availability of critical services for these vulnerable individuals and families," the groups said in a joint statement.

Adams earlier faced criticism from Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson, who noted the Orchard Beach is prone to flooding and has limited access to public transportation, the New York Daily News first reported.

Orchard Beach is "not the ideal location," she told the Daily News, although she pledged to work with the Adams administration on the camp.

Adams, in response to Gibson's questions, said the camp will be a short-term, rather than a long-term effort.

Still, the squishy start date of within the "coming weeks" for the camp and planned future facilities raises questions they'll overlap with potential upcoming storms.

Remnants from Hurricane Ian, which is projected to hit Florida by Wednesday, could travel up the East Coast this week, AccuWeather reported.

"The widespread nature of the impacts to the Northeast, mainly tropical rainfall, will depend heavily on the exact trajectory of Ian through next weekend," the AccuWeather report states.

Zachard Iscol, the city's emergency management commissioner, said in a coastal flooding event that migrants in the camp will be evacuated into the city's storm shelter system, which is designed to move about 500,000 people.

But he was less specific on other types of floods, such as rainfall or tides.

"We are setting up protection measures for those types of flooding events as well," he said.

Iscol also reaffirmed that children will not be in this first camp in Orchard Beach.

"There will not be any minors in the tent facility up at Orchard Beach."