'We’re going to have to make more and more difficult decisions on siting facilities,' he said
Migrants fill sidewalk outside of the Roosevelt Hotel
Migrants await registration outside of the Roosevelt Hotel in midtown Manhattan on Tuesday, August 1, 2023. The asylum seekers are forced to wait on the streets, since the hotel is currently at capacity. (Julia Bonavita/Fox News Digital)
Manhattan's borough president Mark Levine told the New York Times in a piece published Thursday that the city has entered a "desperation stage" when it came to homelessness and migrants as shelters are overburdened.
The outlet reported that homeless migrants camping out on sidewalks and waiting for beds might become the city's "new normal," despite the New York's "right to shelter" mandate.
"We are at the desperation stage," Levine told the Times. "We’re going to have to make more and more difficult decisions on siting facilities that at this point are all going to disrupt some aspect of life here."
Mayor Eric Adams has repeatedly called on the federal government to send resources to the city as there was no more room.
Recently arrived migrants to New York City wait on the sidewalk outside of the Roosevelt Hotel in midtown, Manhattan, where a temporary reception center has been established in New York City, New York, U.S., August 1, 2023. REUTERS/Mike Segar (REUTERS/Mike Segar)
Adams said Monday that it was "not going to get any better."
"Our next phase of this strategy, now that we have run out of room, we have to figure out how we're going to localize the inevitable that there's no more room indoors," he said. "We need to call a state of emergency, and we need to properly fund this national crisis."
Adams also seemed to reference "tent cities" in San Francisco and elsewhere, saying New York needed to prevent that from happening.
"Here's where we are right now. Yes, there were people sleeping in cooling vans. There were people along the sidewalk. We have to localize this madness. We have to figure out a way of how we don't have what's in other municipalities where you have tent cities all over the city," Adams said.
Mayor Eric Adams at New York City Hall on Tuesday, Jan. 17, in Manhattan, New York. (Barry Williams/New York Daily News/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
NYC ISSUES POSTERS TELLING MIGRANTS TO 'CONSIDER ANOTHER CITY,' WARNS OF SKY-HIGH PRICES
Queens borough president Donovan Richards said the city would likely continue to open more shelters to deal with the overflow of migrants.
"I get a ping on my phone at least twice or three times a week about a new hotel opening up or a new site being proposed," Richards told the Times. "That’s going to be the norm for a while, but that’s going to prevent people from sleeping on the sidewalk."
New York City has taken steps to deter migrants from coming to the city by giving out fliers at the southern border, telling migrants they won't be guaranteed services in the city, according to the Times.
Recently arrived migrants to New York City sleep on cardboard sheets on the sidewalk outside of the Roosevelt Hotel in midtown, Manhattan, where a temporary reception center has been established in New York City, New York, U.S., August 1, 2023. REUTERS/Mike Segar (REUTERS/Mike Segar)
New York's Roosevelt Hotel reached capacity this week, forcing some asylum seekers to sleep outside.
City officials say the hotel is an arrival center for all migrants, where they can get food, vaccinations, and meet with caseworkers.
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Hanna Panreck is an associate editor at Fox News.
