It’s a ticking time bomb.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams declared a state of emergency earlier this month as the city’s homeless shelter population exploded to a record high due to an endless stream of migrants bussed up from the southern border.
NYC’s Department of Homeless Services reported 62,174 people are now living in the city’s shelters, exceeding the previous record of 61,415 set in January 2019, according to New York Daily News.
Adams’ administration has blamed the shelter chaos on an influx of migrants from border states. He has forecasted a billion-dollar cost to house and provide social services to the migrants.
“This is unsustainable. The city is going to run out of funding for other priorities,” Adams recently warned. “Local government cannot be the solution for national crisis – especially manufactured crisis.”
Construction is underway for a migrant humanitarian emergency center at Randall’s Island. It would be the first stop where migrants bussed from border states to NYC would be processed.
The city’s shelter system is cracking, and nearly every homeless shelter is at full capacity as the cold season begins.
In addition to setting a new population record, the average length of stay has also surged to all-time highs, with single adults now spending an average of 509 days in shelters, according to city data. Families with kids are, on average, in a shelter even longer — 534 days — and adult families spend an astonishing 855 days in shelters on average, the data shows. — New York Daily News
Read More: “This Is Unsustainable”: NYC Homeless Shelter Population Hits Record High
