New York City Mayor Closing Randall's Island Migrant Facility
Newsy
Mayor Eric Adams said the closure is due to a slowing number of incoming migrants, but critics say his handling of the process has long been off.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams has decided to close the Randall's Island tent facility for migrants because it failed to reach full capacity. Now asylum seekers — like 20-year-old Venezuelan Orbelk Fernandez, who stayed in the tents for almost a week — are being moved to the Watson Hotel in midtown Manhattan. It's the shelter's third move in just over a month.
Fernandez is now sleeping in a normal bed in a normal room, shared with one other person. He says he was grateful to have a place to live on Randall's Island, but as the cold weather made its way inside underneath the tents, it was nearly impossible to sleep.
Ariadna Phillips, an organizer for the Mutual Aid Collective, says she has received several similar distress calls from migrants staying at the facility.
