NYC Might House Asylum Seekers On Rikers Island: Report

QUEENS — Amid the influx of asylum seekers in recent weeks, New York City officials are considering a plan to shelter migrants on Rikers Island, according to a report.

New York Daily News reported that the Adams administration is planning on housing asylum seekers in the Otis Bantum Correctional Center, a jail that closed in June 2022.

“They’re like, ‘If you’re kind of fixing this up anyway, this could be one of the facilities we look at for migrants,’” one of the city government sources told New York Daily News.

The source, who spoke to the news outlet anonymously, said that a final decision has not been made.

The report comes as asylum seekers continue to arrive in New York City, with officials scrambling to find space to shelter them. 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.

The option to house asylum seekers in city jails sparked immediate pushback from advocates and lawmakers. New York has a plan in place to close Rikers by 2027, and officials questioned how the move would counteract those efforts.