Migrant Families Can Only Stay 60 Days In NYC Shelters: Mayor

NEW YORK CITY — Migrant families with children can only stay in New York City's shelters for 60 days, said Mayor Eric Adams.

Adams' much-anticipated announcement Monday — paired with word that Floyd Bennett Field soon will open as a semi-congregate setting for asylum seekers with children — was quickly lambasted by advocates.

Forcing families with kids who have already endured traumatic trips to be denied safe shelter is "devoid of any humanity and is a stain on our city’s long-standing reputation as a welcoming home for all," said advocates with The Legal Aid Society and the Coalition for the Homeless.

"This new policy, along with the City’s announcement that it will place families with children in semi-congregate settings at Floyd Bennett Field, will disrupt access to education, which has provided much needed stability for our newest neighbors, and also cause chaos for school administrators," a joint statement from the groups reads. "We are also concerned about access to medical care and other vital services."

Adams, in a statement of his own, argued the current surge of migrants left the city no choice.

"With over 64,100 asylum seekers still in the city’s care, and thousands more migrants arriving every week, expanding this policy to all asylum seekers in our care is the only way to help migrants take the next steps on their journeys," he said.

City officials have gradually put time limits on how long migrants can stay in shelters, starting with single adults in July.

Last week, the New York Daily News and Gothamist separately reported that Adams was poised to set a 60-day limit for families with children and force them to re-apply for shelter.

The anticipated move was blasted by Christine Quinn, president and CEO of Win, as a potential first step toward putting asylum seeker families with kids in congregate settings.

"The City's decision to kick new arrival families with children out of shelter every two months is cruel, inhumane, and will — without a doubt — worsen New York’s homelessness crisis," she said in a statement. "It is unconscionable to forcefully uproot families every 60 days, rip children from schools they are just settling into, and disconnect parents from the resources they need to get out of shelter and into permanent housing. This decision is an affront on our values as New Yorkers and is an unprecedented attack on our newest and most vulnerable neighbors."