Mayor Adams Announces Additional Shelter Closures, Including Floyd Bennett Field, as Migrant Shelter Census Hits 22nd Straight Week of Decline

December 10, 2024

Administration’s Asylum Seeker Management Strategies Have Helped
Lead to 22 Straight Weeks of Shelter Census Declines, $2.3 Billion in Savings

Between November 2024 and March 2025, Administration Will Have Closed 25 Shelters

NEW YORK – New York City Mayor Eric Adams today announced that — thanks to the administration’s successful asylum seeker management strategies that have continued to drive down the number of people in the city’s care and reduce costs — 25 shelters, including the Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Center at Floyd Bennett Field are slated to close in the coming two months. Thanks to the administration’s successful advocacy for executive orders at the border by the Biden-Harris administration, which have significantly reduced the rate at which asylum seekers are arriving in New York City and seeking care, and the administration’s successful asylum seeker management strategies — including reticketing, case management, and 30- and 60-day notices — the number of asylum seekers in city shelters has decreased for 22 straight weeks and is now at its lowest point in over 17 months. New York state, which was paying the costs of sheltering migrants at Floyd Bennett Field, will continue to reimburse New York City for costs for equivalent care incurred at other sites across the city. Earlier this year, Mayor Adams announced that the Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Center at Randall’s Island will close on February 28.

“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,” said Mayor Adams. “Our intensive case management, paired with 30- and 60-day policies, have helped more than 170,000 migrants take their next steps on their journeys, because migrants don’t come here to live in our shelter system — they come here to pursue the American Dream. 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.”

“At the height of this humanitarian response, the Floyd Bennett Field activation served as a relief valve to provide critical shelter and resources to hundreds of families at their greatest time of need; and it has continued to serve as an integral component of the unprecedented system we established to receive and care for the more than 225,000 asylum seekers who walked through our doors,” said Mayor’s Office of Asylum Seeker Operations Executive Director Molly Schaeffer. “Today’s announcement is a direct reflection of the tireless commitment of our teams and the tremendous work they do every day to ensure that people are ready to move on to the next steps in their journeys to self-sufficiency. New York City continues to lead from the front.”
Recent and upcoming shelter closures in New York City include:

• El Rancho Hotel, Bronx
• Floyd Bennett Field Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Center, Brooklyn
• Hotel RL, Brooklyn
• Imperial Hotel, Brooklyn
• Sleep Inn, Brooklyn
• 97th Street Dorms, Manhattan
• Americana Inn, Manhattan
• Hotel Merit, Manhattan
• Randall’s Island Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Center, Manhattan
• Upper West Side Dorms – Amsterdam Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Center, Manhattan
• Upper West Side Dorms – Stratford Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Center, Manhattan
• The Essence at JFK, Queens
• JFK Respite Center, Queens
• Quality Inn JFK, Queens
• Voyage Hotel, Queens

Recent and upcoming shelter closures outside of New York City include:

• Holiday Inn Express, Albany
• The Ramada Plaza, Albany
• SureStay Plus Best Western, Albany
• Red Roof Inn Plus, Amherst
• Ardsley Acres Hotel Court, Ardsley
• Best Western Inn, Buffalo
• Quality Inn, Buffalo
• The Crossroads Hotel, Newburgh
• Red Roof Inn Plus, Poughkeepsie
• Central Motel Courtyard, White Plains

Since the first buses of asylum seekers arrived in the five boroughs in 2022, New York City has continued to focus on building the structures needed to help migrants take their next steps towards self-sufficiency. The city’s Asylum Application Help Center — a first-in-the-nation entity — has helped complete nearly 87,000 applications for work authorization, temporary protected status, and asylum. Over 70 percent of eligible adults in the city’s care either have or have applied for work authorization. The city has also purchased 47,000 tickets to help migrants reach their preferred destinations and help reduce long-term costs for New York City taxpayers. Additionally, staff have conducted over 700,000 case management sessions with migrants dedicated to helping them identify self-sufficient pathways out of city shelter, in addition to implementing the city’s 30- and 60-day notice policies. As a result, more than 170,000 migrants who requested services from the city have taken the next steps in their journeys towards self-sufficiency. Since intensive case management services began in October 2023, 42 percent more families with children in humanitarian centers each week have taken their next steps. Additionally, over the last budget cycle, Mayor Adams successfully reduced the city’s asylum seeker spending over Fiscal Year 2024 and Fiscal Year 2025 by nearly $2.3 billion.

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