NYC mayor compares migrant crisis to height of pandemic

(NewsNation) — New York City Mayor Eric Adams is receiving backlash from a lot of people in New York City after he said the city was now in the throes of a humanitarian crisis, comparing the influx of migrants in the city to the height of the COVID-19 pandemic when thousands of people were dying every day.

Since April, more than 10,000 migrants have arrived in New York City seeking asylum, and close to 4,000 of those migrants were sent on buses from the southern border by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who said he will continue to send buses until President Joe Biden does more to secure the border.

Adams said that before the end of the year, there could be anywhere between 50,000-75,000 migrants in the city.

But while city officials refuse to turn anyone away, they’re running out of space.

Last week, the city announced it would be transforming a large parking lot in the Bronx into the new location for humanitarian emergency response and relief center. Adams said he plans to erect hangar-size tents as temporary shelters to house the influx of migrants arriving from the southern border.

The tents are among an array of options — from using cruise ships to summer camps — the city is considering as it struggles to find housing.

The sites will offer medical care, food, shelter and job services, and help migrants connect with family and friends. All of this is taxpayer-funded.

“We clearly are in a state of emergency when we are erecting tent cities,” said New York City Councilman Joe Borelli. “I think it’s also reprehensible that New York City, New York State, different counties are left to pay for this problem on their own.”

The city said it’s costing taxpayers $1.5 million a day to care for the migrants, and that cost will likely continue to go up.

New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand met with the mayor recently to discuss the idea of possibly moving the migrants upstate.

“A lot of the social services in New York City are getting extremely burdened and it’s very hard to make sure we have beds and resources to help them,” Gillibrand said.

But the idea was met with backlash from other New York lawmakers.

Republican State Sen. Joe Griffo said, “To think that you’re going to move a problem from the metropolitan area and then bring it to the upstate communities is just a bad idea.”

Some Republican lawmakers in New York have even suggested that Adams declare a state of emergency — which would help bring in additional federal resources.

But as of now, the mayor has only asked Washington for financial assistance, asking the government to send more money and support.