Mayor Adams Announces Placement of Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Center to Assist Single Women and Adult Family Asylum Seekers

November 3, 2022

Third Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Center to Be Located at Midtown Hotel

NEW YORK – New York City Mayor Eric Adams today announced the city will soon open a Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Center that will serve asylum seekers arriving in New York City. As the estimated number of asylum seekers in New York City surpasses at least 22,600, this specific humanitarian relief center will assist newly arriving single adult women and adult families and provide them with a range of services, in addition to ensuring they can reach their desired destination, if not New York City. This humanitarian relief center will be located at the Hotel Wolcott in midtown Manhattan and will include 175 rooms to serve asylum seekers. 

Humanitarian relief centers will become the first touch point for arriving asylum seekers, helping people by immediately offering shelter, food, medical care, case work services, and a range of settlement options. 

“While the number of asylum seekers have slowed in recent weeks, we are still seeing a steady stream of single adult women and adult families arriving in New York City in need of assistance. The city’s third Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Center will soon open to provide these populations access to a multitude of supports and resources,” said Mayor Adams. Our teams will continue to work with these families and assess if they want to actually stay in New York City and, if not, help them get to their desired destinations. As we continue to provide support to the more than 16,800 people in our care, we continue to work with federal and state partners to seek financial assistance as we deal with this unprecedented humanitarian crisis.” 

“The city needs to continue to be prepared to meet the ongoing humanitarian crisis,” said Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services Anne Williams-Isom. “This new humanitarian relief center gives us another tool in that effort and is a place where we can support and welcome our newest neighbors and connect them to the resources they need. Thank you to our interagency and nongovernmental partners for making this possible." 

“The goal here is to assist people as soon as they arrive here, and make sure that assistance is tailored to their specific needs and circumstances,” said Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Philip Banks III. “Just as this crisis is ever-changing, so is the city’s response, and we will continue to find practical, adaptive solutions to address these challenges.” 

“The strength and history of our city is largely a story of immigrants,” said New York City Emergency Management Commissioner Zach Iscol. “As people seeking asylum continue to arrive at our doorstep, we remain steadfast in supporting them as they build new lives and become part of our city’s rich mosaic. By opening this third Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Center for single women and adult families, we are providing a helping hand to those in search of not just a better future and opportunities, but also kindness, compassion, and empathy. We are proud of New York City, its agencies, and our partner community-based organizations as we continue to lead by example with our response to this humanitarian crisis.” 

“In New York City, asylum seekers will continue to be greeted with the compassionate care and dedicated support needed to meet them where they are and help them get where they want to go,” said Ted Long, MD, MHS, senior vice president, Ambulatory Care and Population Health, NYC Health + Hospitals. “Our third Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Center will address the unique needs of adult families and single adult women seeking asylum, providing a comfortable place to stay, meals, medical care, mental health support, language access, technology, and resettlement services to help them complete their journey. I am proud to work in the Adams administration as we ensure New York City remains a beacon of opportunity for those seeking a better life in our country.” 

Since this humanitarian crisis began, the city has — largely on its own — taken fast and urgent action, managing the arrival of a rapidly increasing number of buses across New York City with virtually no coordination from states sending them — opening 57 hotels as emergency shelters, standing up a navigation center to connect asylum seekers with critical resources, enrolling children in public schools through Project Open Arms, and more.  
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