NY MAYOR MUCH MORE HOSPITABLE TO ILLEGAL MEXICAN BORDER CROSSERS THAN THE GOVERNORS OF TEXAS AND ARIZONA

Now Eric Adams will house migrants at $450-a-night hotel a block from Central Park with a swimming pool on its roof - after shutting down $650,000 'Adams Tent City' 

Migrants in New York City will now be housed at The Watson Hotel after Mayor Eric Adams ordered his tent city to be taken down. The' Adams Tent City,' as it was dubbed on Google Maps, was expected to host a thousand migrants but ended up servicing only a fraction of that. Now, single male migrants will be housed in the 3.5 star, $450-a-night Watson Hotel that comes equipped with a fitness center and pool

 

By Joseph Michalitsianos

 

Daily Mail

November 11, 2022

 

 

   

The Rooftop swimming pool of The Watson Hotel

 

New York City Mayor Eric Adams is now housing migrants in the glamorous Watson Hotel, a $450-a-night, 3.5 star hotel a block away from Central Park, after Adams' Tent City was shut down. 

Migrants were spotted arriving at The Watson Hotel after being transported from the tent facility on Randall's Island, and the new hotel guests were all smiles as they checked out their new temporary home. 

The hotel - which comes with a plethora of amenities including a fitness center, indoor swimming pool and a restaurant in the lobby - will start accepting migrants on Monday and will host up to 600 people. 

Adams announced this week that any occupants still at the Randall's Island facility - coined Adams' Tent City after being named that way on Google Maps - would be transported to the Watson Hotel HERCC.

HERRC stands for Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Center, a program set up by Adams to assist in housing the migrants. 

The tent city will be shut down by Wednesday, though it will take a few weeks to fully close. 

 

                Migrants smiled as they checked out their new digs, which includes a fitness center, indoor swimming pool and a restaurant in the lobby

                 'Adams Tent City' is located on Randall's Island, between Manhattan, Queens and The Bronx

Adams said the center - briefly dubbed 'Adams Tent City' on Google - will be a 'temporary solution' for asylum seekers flooding into the city  

 

The facility even has a number of plush couches set up in front of large screen TVs 

 

'We continue to welcome asylum seekers arriving in New York City with compassion and care,' Adams said in a statement, adding that the new hotel center 'will provide asylum seekers with a place to stay, access support, and get to their final destination.'

'This site was always intended to be temporary and the city believes that the Watson Hotel HERRC is the most effective and efficient option for single adult men,' an email to councilmembers, obtained by the New York Post, read. 

In recent months, the number of migrants, mainly from Venezuela, arriving in New York City had sharply increased after officials in states like Texas and Arizona sent them over on buses. 

'Adams Tent City' opened October 19 to house single men seeking asylum in the US for temporary periods after their initial arrival in New York City. The center helped them determine what resources they needed and whether they wanted to go elsewhere.

President Joe Biden recently placed limits on how many Venezuelan nationals could seek asylum, leading to a decrease in arrivals. 

It led to Adams declaring a state of emergency over the increased pressure on the city's infrastructure, with the homeless shelter system bursting. There are more than 63,300 people in the shelter system.

But the Randall's Island facility, made up of heated tents that included cots for up to 500 people and could have held double that number, didn't use anywhere close to that capacity. 

Gov. Kathy Hochul even mobilized 147 National Guard troops in October to 'provide logistical and operational support' to the infamous 'tent city.'

 

New York City Mayor Eric Adams said housing migrants at the Watson Hotel 'will provide asylum seekers with a place to stay, access support, and get to their final destination'

 

The mayor's office did not specify how many migrants had used the facility. It said there 17,500 people seeking asylum in the city's care overall.

Last week, 113 Senegalese migrants have arrived at the facility after being bused from the southern border on October 31. 

Their arrival in New York was coordinated by an Imam from the Bronx who had been housing migrants independently before hearing that the facility was empty. 

Omar Niass of the Masjid Ansaru-Deen Islamic house of worship said that the majority of the migrants had been working in Brazil. 

When they heard the border was open they left their jobs to migrate, many of them taking Greyhound buses up to the city, he told the New York Post.

Last month there were just seven men in the 500-bed facility - formally called the Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Center - which cost around $325,000 to build according to a city official.

One man told the New York Post that there were about 200 men living there and that they come from Senegal and South America.

Even before it opened, immigrant advocates had been concerned about the center over a range of issues including its location, on an island between the Bronx, Manhattan and Queens, and whether it was appropriate to house people in tents instead of built spaces like hotels, and whether migrants would be getting adequate services.

News of its shutdown was met with approval.

'The city is doing the right thing by moving people to a setting where they can have their own space and get settled so they can move on with their lives,' said Kathryn Kliff, an attorney with the Legal Aid Society. 

'Also, we are glad that this new location will be much more accessible to public transit so clients can access services and easily travel to and from the site.'