The Adams administration is considering using vacant public school buildings as temporary shelters for migrants during the summer vacation months.
The Mayor’s Office and the Office of Emergency Management have drafted a list of potential sites, including notable schools such as New Dorp High School on Staten Island, Mark Twain Middle School in Coney Island, and Russell Sage Middle School in Forest Hills.
Between 20 and 30 schools are being seriously evaluated to provide temporary shelter and processing for the migrant population.
However, this proposal has sparked a backlash from city officials. Brooklyn Councilman Ari Kagan and Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella, both Republicans, voiced their opposition, arguing that schools are not suitable places to shelter migrants. They referred to the previous controversy when migrants were accommodated in school gymnasiums, creating community outrage.
Kagan said, “Schools are not appropriate places to house migrants. I will be against it. The community will be against it.” Fossella said, “It doesn’t make sense whatsoever. Staten Island didn’t create this problem and shouldn’t have to solve this problem.”
A mayor’s office spokesperson said, “As Mayor Adams has said repeatedly, we have more than 51,800 asylum-seekers in our care and have reached capacity.”
He added, “While this option is not ideal, none are, and we are in no position to take anything off the table.”
The city has already established 179 emergency sites, including 12 Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Centers (HERRCs) in multiple city hotels.
Due to space constraints in the city, Mayor Adams has also arranged for migrants to be housed in hotels in the Hudson Valley and upstate while exploring the availability of private office spaces.
NYC Public Schools manages approximately 1,300 buildings with a combined floor space of 130 million square feet across the five boroughs. Many of these facilities will remain idle until the new school year begins on September 7.
