Workers have begun constructing the first of two tent shelters that will house the influx of migrants who are being sent to New York City by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.
Trucks with poles, jackhammers and other equipment started to arrive in Orchard Beach in the Bronx on Monday. Officials blocked off an area the size of two football fields for the structures.
Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat, announced last week that he would build two large “relief centers” where migrants without immediate shelter could stay for 24 hours to 96 hours.
Hundreds of migrants are reaching the city each day, as border states say liberal parts of the Northeast should do their part in absorbing the influx of persons crossing the border.
At least 13,000 migrants have reached the Big Apple.
Mr. Adams has toggled between chastising the Texas governor for failing to coordinate arrivals and pledging to treat the migrants decently.
“Now, more than ever, it’s clear that we are again dealing with a humanitarian crisis created by human hands. While other leaders have abdicated their moral duty to support arriving asylum seekers, New York City refuses to do so,” Mr. Adams said last week.
The mayor said there will be a second tent facility but its location hasn’t been finalized.
Some locals questioned the selection of Orchard Beach for the first one.
The site is near the water, so it will be rather cold in the coming weeks and months, and officials will have to figure out how to link the site to public transportation.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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