Migrant crisis strains the city's shelter system to its limits
With tens of thousands of asylum seekers in its care, the city opened emergency sites and warned of mounting costs.
New York's shelter system strained under the weight of a growing migrant crisis this spring, as the number of asylum seekers in the city's care climbed into the tens of thousands and officials scrambled to find space, warning that the costs were becoming unsustainable.
The city, bound by a decades-old legal "right to shelter," had taken in a continuous flow of migrants, many bused from the southern border, and had converted hotels, former office buildings and other sites into emergency housing. As arrivals continued and federal pandemic-era border rules shifted, officials braced for even larger numbers.
Mayor Adams repeatedly pressed Washington and Albany for more money and for changes to let migrants work legally, arguing that the city could not absorb the burden alone and that the costs would run into the billions of dollars, forcing cuts elsewhere.
The influx tested the city's self-image as a welcoming haven for immigrants. While many New Yorkers and community groups rallied to help, the strain also fuelled tensions in some neighbourhoods over the siting of shelters and the diversion of resources.
The crisis would deepen through the year, dominating city politics and budgets and exposing the failures of national immigration policy. For the migrants themselves, many fleeing hardship and danger, the city offered refuge, but also an uncertain and precarious welcome as the system buckled.