The pace of new migrant arrivals into the Big Apple slowed recent days, falling from a rate of almost 4,000 arrivals per week down to 2,500 last week, new city data shows.
Officials in the Adams administration cautioned that the reprieve may only be temporary and warned that the Big Apple’s shelter system and social safety remains stretched to the max.
“Each week, thousands of asylum seekers make their way to New York City in search of refuge, and for months, we have seen an average of more than 10,000 migrants arrive in our city seeking shelter,” said City Hall spokeswoman Kayla Mamelak.
“We continue to shoulder the burden of this national crisis with limited support, but, as we have emphasized time and again, we are past our breaking point and have run out of space to accommodate migrants without limits.”
The slowdown comes just days after Mayor Eric Adams issued new dire warnings that migrants may be forced to stay outside — with City Hall quietly considering potentially handing new arrivals camping tents to pitch in city parks.
And, it follows a push by the White House to speed deportations of Venezuelans, an effort that top officials in the Biden administration told Gov. Kathy Hochul had begun to discourage new migrants from attempting to cross the southern border.
All told, more than 133,000 migrants have arrived in the five boroughs since the crisis began last spring — and nearly 66,000 are living in the city’s shelter system or emergency relief facilities.
Many of them plan to file for asylum after fleeing political violence — including death squads — and economic collapse in their home countries, predominately Venezuela.
The influx has doubled the number of people living in the shelter system and put a massive $12 billion strain on the city’s budget, officials estimate.
Adams has threatened that agencies may be forced to cut city-funded programs by as much as 15% to make up the difference as he campaigns for billions in aid from Washington and Albany to help cover the tab.
City Hall is obligated to provide all the recent arrivals with beds in the shelter system under a series of court settlements and state-ordered reforms collectively known as the ‘right to shelter.’
Attorneys for Adams — with an assist from Hochul — are pressing ahead with their effort to trim back the entitlement in Manhattan Supreme Court, saying the regulations have effectively put City Hall on the hook to house anyone who comes to the five boroughs.
Liberals, progressives, civil rights groups and even some usual allies of Adams and Hochul have fought back against the effort, with 49 state lawmakers issuing a letter on Thursday that urged the pair to abandon the effort.
“As winter approaches, and as New York City is increasingly subject to extreme weather, it is vital that the Right to Shelter stay in place,” they wrote.
Additional reporting by Carl Campanile