Mayor Eric Adams announced on Tuesday morning that the city is set to close 25 migrant shelters by the end of the month, citing a steady decrease in the migrant shelter census.
A tent camp for migrant families at Floyd Bennett Field in southeastern Brooklyn is among the facilities that will close. Advocates and city officials said they feared the site could be a potential target of President-elect Donald Trump’s mass deportation plans, partly because of its location on federal parkland.
The announcement comes as the number of migrants staying in city shelters has declined for 22 weeks and is at its lowest point in a year-and-a-half.
Eleven migrant shelters have already closed and another 14 closures are planned by the end of March.
Adams partially credited the slowdown in migrants seeking shelter to President Joe Biden’s border policies.
“Thanks to our smart management strategies, we’ve turned the corner, and this additional slate of shelter closures we’re announcing today is even more proof that we’re managing this crisis better than any other city in the nation,” Adams said in a statement. “We’re going to continue looking for more sites to consolidate and close, and more opportunities to save taxpayer money, as we continue to successfully manage this response.”
More than 220,000 migrants have funneled through the city’s shelter system since spring 2022, staying at more than 200 emergency shelter sites.
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