ALBANY, N.Y — New York City officers need to ease strain on overcrowded homeless shelters by housing migrants in a federal jail that after held mobsters, terrorists and Wall Street swindlers earlier than being shut down after Jeffrey Epstein’s suicide.
The proposal, urged in an Aug. 9 letter to Gov. Kathy Hochul’s administration, got here as New York struggles to deal with the estimated 100,000 migrants who’ve arrived within the metropolis since final 12 months after crossing the southern U.S. border.
The metropolis is legally obligated to seek out shelter for anybody needing it. With homeless shelters full, New York City Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat, has taken over lodges, put cots in leisure facilities and college gyms and created short-term housing in large tents.
The letter, written by a senior counsel for the town’s legislation division, identifies a number of different websites wherein migrants might doubtlessly be housed, together with the defunct Metropolitan Correctional Center, which closed in 2021.
That shutdown got here after the detention heart, whose prisoners have included Mafia don John Gotti, associates of Osama bin Laden and the Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, got here beneath new scrutiny due to squalid circumstances and safety lapses uncovered following Epstein’s loss of life.
Lawyers had lengthy complained that the jail was filthy, infested with bugs and rodents, and suffering from water and sewage leaks so dangerous they’d led to structural points.
The letter didn’t clarify whether or not the town had truly approached the federal Bureau of Prisons about gaining access to the jail as residential housing for migrants. As asylum seekers, the migrants usually are not prisoners and are largely within the U.S. legally whereas their asylum functions are pending, leaving them typically free to journey.
In an announcement, the federal Bureau of Prisons mentioned “While we decline to comment concerning governmental correspondence, we can provide; MCC New York is closed, at least temporarily, and long-term plans for MCC New York have not been finalized.”
At least one advocacy group assailed the thought of housing migrants on the jail.
“Mayor Adams likes to say that all options are on the table when it comes to housing asylum seekers, but certain places should most definitely be off the table,” mentioned Murad Awawdeh, govt director of the New York Immigration Coalition. “The Metropolitan Correctional Center was a notoriously decrepit jail, and is not a suitable place to support people trying to build a new life in a new country.”
The inflow of migrants to the town has created some rigidity between the Hochul and Adams administrations. Lawyers for the 2 Democrats have sparred in court docket filings over how finest to confront a difficulty that carries monetary, political and humanitarian implications.
In a letter this week, an legal professional representing Hochul sought to reject allegations that the state had not responded to the migrant inflow in a considerable method, detailing steps the governor has taken whereas accusing the town of failing to simply accept state gives of help.
“The City has not made timely requests for regulatory changes, has not always promptly shared necessary information with the State, has not implemented programs in a timely manner, and has not consulted the State before taking certain actions,” the letter mentioned.
Hochul’s legal professional additionally famous the state has put aside $1.5 billion for the town to help migrants and has superior the town $250 million for the trouble however mentioned the town has solely submitted reimbursement paperwork for simply $138 million.
Avi Small, a spokesman for Hochul, mentioned in an announcement Thursday that “Governor Hochul is grateful to Mayor Adams and his team for their work to address this ongoing humanitarian crisis. Governor Hochul has deployed unprecedented resources to support the City’s efforts and will continue working closely with them to provide aid and support.”
The metropolis, in its personal submitting, has urged Hochul use govt orders or litigation to safe housing for migrants in upstate New York or to contemplate making an attempt to get neighboring states to simply accept migrants.
Lawyers for the town are additionally requesting to make use of state-owned properties such because the Jacob Ok. Javitz Convention Center or State University of New York dormitories to deal with new arrivals, along with requesting the federal authorities permit them to make use of federal websites such because the Metropolitan Correctional Center jail and Fort Dix.
Adams’ workplace didn’t instantly return an emailed request for remark Thursday.
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