That was fast: NY City closing expensive brand new migrant tent center, relocating to boutique hotel

Published with permission from American Wire News Service. 

The infamous, exorbitantly expensive tent city for illegal aliens set up by New York City Mayor Eric Adams last month is scheduled to be shuttered only three weeks after it opened thanks to both a lack of incoming traffic and growing criticism.

“While they continue to arrive, the speed at which the number of single adult males seeking asylum in New York City has slowed in recent weeks and, as such, the city will demobilize the Randall’s Island Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Center next week,” according to a press release from Adams’ office.

As for the illegals currently housed at the tent city, they’re slated to be relocated to a boutique hotel.

“Occupants at the Randall’s Island center will be offered transport to the Watson Hotel beginning next week,” the press release continues.

Situated in Manhattan, Watson Hotel offers rooms for no less than $255 per night, according to Kayak.

City Limits magazine notes that the tent city was originally established “on a flood-prone parking lot in Orchard Beach” but then relocated to Randall’s Island for a whopping $650,000.

However, the site has failed to attract enough illegal aliens. It’s also elicited angry criticism from illegal alien rights advocates.

“But the site, with a total capacity of 1,000 people, has seen relatively few visitors while continuing to encounter intense criticism from immigrants’ rights advocates and many members of the City Council, who worried the location was too isolated from needed services to be a practical option,” according to City Limits.

One such advocate is New York Immigration Coalition Executive director Murad Awawdeh.

“The decision to open the Randall’s Island tent camp today is a stain on our city’s rich history of welcoming immigrants and morally reprehensible,” Awawdeh complained last month when the tent city first opened its doors.

“By confining new asylum seekers to isolated tents, vulnerable to inclement weather and removed from critical social services, the Adams administration has failed in its duties to protect and integrate the newest arrivals to our city,” he added.

Never mind that the tent city has reportedly been stocked with amenities and luxuries, including foosball tables, big-screen TVs, and more:

Awawdeh was predictably pleased by the news Thursday that the tent city is now being shuttered:

“We applaud the City’s decision to close the Randalls Island encampment and relocate existing and future asylum seekers to a new location better suited to ensuring they have ready access to mass transit and the supportive services they need to more fully integrate into New York City life,” he said in a new statement.

“We look forward to continuing to work with the Adams administration to create the
most welcoming conditions possible for asylum seekers and all new arrivals in a city that has always stood as a beacon of hope for immigrants,” he added.

Kathryn Kliff of the Legal Aid Society was also pleased.

“The city is doing the right thing by moving people to a setting where they can have their own space and get settled so they can move on with their lives. Also, we are glad that this new location will be much more accessible to public transit so clients can access services and easily travel to and from the site,” she said, according to The Post-Star.

City officials have for their part excused themselves, despite having seemingly wasted so much money, by claiming the tent city was always meant to be temporary.

“This site was always intended to be temporary-and the City believes that the Watson Hotel HERRC is the most effective and efficient option for single adult men,” an email written this week to city councilmembers reads, as reported by the New York Post.

That being said, believe it or not, the slowdown in incoming illegal aliens that led to city officials shuttering the tent city is reportedly attributable in part to the Biden administration’s recent actions.

“Right around the time the shelter complex opened, however, the number of buses arriving in New York and other cities fell significantly. Aid groups that work with migrants say that is largely because of a drop in the number of Venezuelan nationals entering the U.S. illegally after the Biden administration announced an agreement to expel many of them to Mexico,” The Wall Street Journal notes.

Of course, the original surge in illegal aliens could have been avoided had the administration done this from the get-go instead of waiting so long to take action …

DONATE TO BIZPAC REVIEW

Please help us! If you are fed up with letting radical big tech execs, phony fact-checkers, tyrannical liberals and a lying mainstream media have unprecedented power over your news please consider making a donation to BPR to help us fight them. Now is the time. Truth has never been more critical!

Success! Thank you for donating. Please share BPR content to help combat the lies.
Vivek Saxena

Comment

We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.

BPR INSIDER COMMENTS

Scroll down for non-member comments or join our insider conversations by becoming a member. We'd love to have you!

Latest Articles