New York City is reportedly planning to use a famous Times Square hotel to shelter hundreds of migrant families seeking asylum in the United States.
Some 600 migrant families could soon be housed at the Row NYC, which was once known as Milford Plaza, sources told the New York Post. The move comes amid a tiff with Texas, which has been sending busloads of migrants into the Big Apple, and a growing homelessness crisis in the city.
“They’re working on an agreement, a contract,” a source told the news outlet. “It’ll be here at this hotel, but they’ll keep the [Department of Homeless Services] shelter on a certain floor. But that hasn’t started yet. They said a month or two.”
Prices for hotel rooms at the Row NYC vary based on the time of booking and room type. A standard room with a queen-sized bed came in around $414 when reviewed by the Washington Examiner.
Behind the scenes, officials have been scrambling to devise a strategy to shelter the migrants and ease the burden imposed on the city’s shelters for the general homeless population.
City officials reportedly sped up plans to find a temporary shelter amid an influx of asylum-seekers entering the city. New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) previously warned that the city’s shelters were facing a surge of migrants.
Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) has publicly admitted to targeting the Big Apple with busloads of migrants, including asylum-seekers, as his administration seeks to ease its migration woes and win political points with his base for shading blue cities. Since mid-April, the Lone Star State has shipped nearly 5,000 migrants in over 100 buses to such blue cities as Washington, D.C., and New York City.
Adams has defended his city’s stance toward illegal immigrants and mused about sending a bus of New Yorkers down to Texas to campaign against Abbott during the midterm elections.
“We should not be blaming people who are seeking to leave a place that is harmful to them. That’s why I was at Port Authority greeting the bus,” Adams added.
* Article from: The Washington Examiner
