The Department of Homeless Services acknowledged to The Post that it has abandoned its original plan to operate an intake and processing center dedicated to recent arrivals along with a 600-room shelter at the ROW NYC hotel on Eighth Avenue in Midtown.
Officials will say only Sunday that they have finally selected a finalist to operate the yet-to-open Manhattan facility, but did not disclose the contractor’s name or location.
City officials failed to open the shelter and reception center for newly arrived immigrants that was scheduled to be open by Aug. 15. Seth Gottfried According to the Department of Homeless Services, the plan to operate an immigrant reception and processing center at the ROW NYC hotel has been abandoned. Matthew McDermott
Contract documents obtained by The Post show officials hoped to have the shelter and Midtown entrance up and running as early as Aug. 15 — now 13 days ago.
DHS also admitted it has yet to select and rent any of the 5,000 hotel rooms the agency said it is seeking to house immigrants across the city.
Instead, officials continue to match immigrants with New Yorkers in the city’s existing shelter system — which now includes 15 “emergency” hotel facilities to also help manage the summer population surge, DSS said Friday.
Migrants wait to be loaded onto a bus to be taken to a shelter in Brooklyn on August 11. Polaris
City Hall declined to say how much the city spends to house immigrants in the homeless system’s hotels, but a Post analysis found the cost could exceed $300 million.
“We were already facing a homelessness crisis in New York City when the flow of these immigrant families began in earnest,” said Josh Goldfein, an attorney in the homeless rights division at Legal Aid.
“We’ve always had asylum seekers in the New York shelter system, so this is nothing new. But obviously, the volume increased.”
Mayor Eric Adams has asked the White House for federal help in handling immigrants arriving at the Texas border. Kevin Sheehan/NY Post
Since May, about 6,000 migrants have sought refuge in the city, including several busloads from Texas headed for Long Star State Governor Greg Abbott.
Although Mayor Eric Adams has appealed to the White House for help, including financial resources, he has yet to receive the extra help he requested.
An official familiar with the city’s efforts said the Adams administration has reached out to the United States Conference of Mayors for help, as well.
“If [Adams] I can’t find a place for [the migrants] to go, it seems he can’t make it. Throw that on top of the crime pile and it looks like he can’t control the city,” longtime political consultant Hank Sheinkopf told The Post on Sunday.
“If Adams hasn’t solved this by late fall, he’s going to be in big trouble. Failure to resolve this as the weather changes will be a real problem for the mayor,” he added.
“It’s a public relations disaster and there’s no sign that Abbott is going to stop sending people here.”
DHS spokeswoman Neha Sharma told The Post, “We are working at breakneck speed to bring emergency capability online while doing everything we can to fully address the unique needs of newly arrived asylum seekers who come to us the most hour of need. “
