UPDATE: Staten Island Republicans dispute statement about 2 local churches set to house migrants
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Religious centers will be the latest places in the five boroughs to house migrants, Mayor Eric Adams announced Monday.
Rev. Terry Troia, who heads local non-profit Project Hospitality and joined the mayor at his City Hall press conference, said two churches would be used for the new program on Staten Island, but did not name the specific houses of worship.
“Our world faces a great humanitarian crisis with displacement of peoples, forced from their homes and homelands,” she said. “We as people who love an all-loving God have the unique opportunity to demonstrate the power of God’s love in action by opening the doors of God’s houses and welcoming in God’s people who seek the safety and shelter only we can offer. We who welcome them welcome God! Let us open our doors and welcome them in!”
The new program is a two-year partnership with New York Disaster Interfaith Services, a non-profit organization that started after 9/11 comprised of faith-based service providers in the five boroughs.
Adams said that the city will be spending about $125 a night to house each asylum seeker, and that he expects the program to provide shelter for 1,000 single men at 50 houses of worship with the possibility of further expansion.
“No matter what faith you practice, caring for those in need is part of every spiritual tradition,” the mayor said. “As we continue to tackle this humanitarian crisis, I’m proud that through this new partnership with New York Disaster Interfaith Services, New York City’s faith community will be able to provide shelter to asylum seekers in need at houses of worship throughout the five boroughs. Not only will this increase the space we have by nearly 1,000 beds, but it will also connect asylum seekers with local communities. New York City continues to do all that we can to address this crisis, but we need additional assistance from other partners.”
Adams described the new program as an opportunity born out of the migrant crisis that has seen more than 70,000 asylum seekers come to the five boroughs, mostly from the southern border.
As of Monday, more than 46,000 remain in the city’s care leading to the creation of emergency hotel shelters around the five boroughs, nine humanitarian emergency relief centers, and an unknown number of emergency respite centers at city-owned properties like the former Hungerford School site on Tompkins Avenue.
The faith-based initiative is the latest strategy to get the new arrivals housed, but a similar effort to house homeless people has been used in the five boroughs for decades, including on Staten Island.
Rev. Troia said following the press conference one of the differences in the new program is a shift in responsibility for congregations to feed the people being housed, who will also be able to go directly to the houses of worship.
Homeless New Yorkers traditionally have needed to stop first at a drop-in center, like the one Project Hospitality operates in St. George on Richmond Terrace before being transferred to a place of worship for the evening. Non-profits like Troia’s have also been responsible for providing meals to the homeless people being housed at places of worship.
With four buses worth of new arrivals over the weekend, city officials don’t see an end to the migrant crisis in the immediate future, and Adams expects the issue to cost the city more than $4.3 billion by July of next year.
The mayor made his latest call for more action from the federal government in the form of funding, a more coherent immigration strategy, and more efficient work authorization for the new arrivals. However, Adams said he hasn’t spoken directly with President Joseph Biden about the issue since earlier this year.
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