Still full amid Eric’s time-limit loophole
The influx of migrants coming to the Big Apple has drastically slowed since the beginning of the year — but the number of those in city shelters has remained the same, even with the mayor’s time limits on stays.
Between 1,100-1,500 migrants have been arriving in the city each week since March, according to figures from the Adams administration.
It followed peaks of about 4,000 weekly migrant arrivals in January — when the shelter population hit a high of about 69,500.
As of last Tuesday, there were about 65,300 migrants housed in the taxpayer-funder shelters — a figure that plateaued in March, when the range of weekly arrivals was 1,100-1,200, down from 1,300-1,500 in February.
About 1,100 migrants came to the city in the week ending June 16, the most recent number City Hall would provide.
Mayor Adams has touted his administration’s limit on stays — 60 days for families and 30 days for single people — as a way to help alleviate the burden on the city’s shelter system and help migrants to move on. The policy went into effect in fall 2023.
And as of mid-May, single migrants who hit the 30-day limit and want to re-apply for housing must prove they have “extenuating circumstances” to warrant another shelter stay.
But some experts and officials question the effectiveness of the controversial policy, which has faced blowback from lawmakers on both sides and from asylum-seeker advocates.
Steven Camarota, director of research for the Center for Immigration Studies, said Adams’ limits on migrant stays are well-intentioned, but can only have a limited impact by design.
“They allow people to re-up,” Camarota said, noting that it’s hard to measure the policy’s effects as some migrants choose to move on regardless, and it’s unclear what the average length of stay was prior to the limits.
“New York has no one to blame but themselves,” Camarota said. “The city’s ‘Right to Shelter’ policy undermines the mayor’s stated goal to get migrants to move out.”
Councilman Bob Holden (D-Queens) skewered the policy as “toothless,” echoing Camarota.