NYC Sets 60-Day Shelter Stay Limit For Adult Asylum Seekers

NEW YORK CITY — Adult asylum seekers can only stay in New York City shelters for 60 days going forward as city officials struggle to find space for migrant families, said Mayor Eric Adams.

The new shelter limit will be imposed in the coming days, starting with asylum seekers who have been in relief centers for a significant amount of time, Adams said Wednesday.

Those who don't find alternative housing will be required to reapply for a new placement at the city's migrant arrival center, he said.

"It’s the only way we can make critical needed space for families and children," he said.

"We don’t want to reach the point, and we won’t reach the point, where families and children are living on our streets."

And while Adams stressed the humanitarian steps New York City took for asylum seekers, he also unveiled a new initiative that arguably makes the city look less than inviting.

City officials will distribute flyers at the U.S.-Mexico border to asylum seekers about the city, Adams said.

The flyers appear to actively discourage migrants from traveling to the city by essentially mounting an anti-tourism campaign. They state, among other things:

• “Housing in NYC is very expensive.”
• “The cost of food, transportation and other necessities in NYC is the highest in the United States (U.S.).”
• “Please consider another city as you make your decision about where to settle in the U.S.”

Even before the official shelter stay announcement, advocates with The Legal Aid Society and the Coalition for the Homeless said the policy raised many unaddressed questions and concerns.

City officials should expand housing vouchers, among other steps, rather than limiting shelter stays, they argued.

"We are still reviewing this policy and its legality, and expect to have more to say on the matter at that time," the groups' leader said in a joint statement.

Roughly 90,000 asylum seekers, largely people escaping political turmoil in South America, have arrived in New York City in the past year, officials said.

The city's shelter system had 105,800 people, from migrants to those who are homeless, as of Wednesday, officials said.

"We have no more room in the city," Adams said.