As New York City grapples with an unrelenting surge of migrants seeking asylum, city officials are considering innovative solutions, including the distribution of small tents to newcomers and the establishment of campsite-style shelters in public parks, according to sources familiar with the discussions.

Mayor Eric Adams and other city officials have been engaged in talks about the potential creation of encampments and have been actively searching for suitable large outdoor spaces to address the ongoing crisis.

These developments follow closely on the heels of a warning issued by Mayor Adams, who said that the city was rapidly running out of shelter space for the 65,000 people currently under its care.

While the city has already set up Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Center pop-up sites, including locations at Randall’s Island and Creedmoor Psychiatric Center in Queens, the proposed new plan envisions campsite-style shelters in parks and other outdoor areas. =

During a press conference on Tuesday, Mayor Adams did not specifically mention the possibility of distributing tents to newly arrived migrants but emphasized his commitment to finding a “humane” solution for the overburdened shelter system.

“We are out of room, and it’s not if people will be sleeping on the streets, it’s when. We are at full capacity,” Mayor Adams remarked, adding, “Everything is on the table,” in response to questions about the use of public parks for migrant housing.

Furthermore, Mayor Adams acknowledged that his administration had engaged in discussions with officials from “other countries” to learn from their experiences in managing tent encampments.

“The chief of staff and I were on a call yesterday with those who do this in other countries to figure out what we can do to manage this the best way possible,” Mayor Adams disclosed.

When asked whether the city intended to set up more tent city shelters or encampments, Mayor Adams remained circumspect. “We’re finding out what our options are. Believe it or not, tents are costly. Everything is costly,” he commented.

However, the proposed plan has faced criticism from organizations like the Legal Aid Society and the Coalition for the Homeless. They expressed concerns that distributing tents ahead of winter could endanger lives and criticized any potential rollback of the Right to Shelter mandate, which requires the city to provide housing for anyone who seeks it.

“People freezing to death on the streets is the exact nightmare that the Right to Shelter was designed to prevent,” the statement from these organizations read. “Make no mistake, when the Mayor and Governor talk about rolling back the Right to Shelter, this is what they mean: relegating desperate people – long-time New Yorkers and newcomers alike – to sleeping on sidewalks, in parks, and in other public spaces across the city, exposed to the elements.”

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)