Statement on Mayor Adams’ Proposed Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Centers

 

New York City Comptroller Brad Lander released the following statement on Mayor Eric Adams’ proposal to open Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Centers (HERRCs) to triage the needs of the hundreds of asylum seekers arriving in New York City from Texas and other border states daily:

“As a city that prides itself on its embrace of immigrants, it is incumbent on New York City to welcome the hundreds of asylum seekers arriving here each day, many having walked on foot for weeks across two continents fleeing violence and war, with compassion and care.

“Given the large volume of people arriving and the need to scale up support for them rapidly, my office is authorizing New York City Emergency Management (NYCEM) to use the emergency contracting process to procure vendors to create a Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Center for adult migrants.

“We are granting this authorization to move forward on emergency contracting with the understanding, provided to us by the Administration, that:

1. Families with children will not sleep or be held overnight in congregate settings as any part of this program.

2. Regular transportation will be provided at no cost to enable people to get from Orchard Beach to mass transit.

3. All people seeking shelter in New York City, including asylum seekers, retain their right to shelter under the New York State Constitution per the Callahan consent decree, and would be free to go to intake centers like the PATH Center or 30th Street without visiting or staying in one of the HERRCs.

“The Comptroller’s office is responsible for signing off on whether emergency procurement is warranted, not whether we agree that this plan is the best approach. We have serious concerns about the siting of support centers in Orchard Beach, a location far from mass transit, outside the legal obligations of the right to shelter, and especially without a plan to do onsite intake of people into the shelter system. I urge the administration to bring the staff and resources needed to inform asylum seekers of their rights and conduct intake into the shelter system onsite so that people will not need to travel from Orchard Beach to various sites across the city to obtain shelter. The individuals and families arriving here have endured long and difficult journeys; the goal must be to provide support and services, not to create new obstacles and barriers.

“Given that the City has indicated that the relief centers will not be part of the shelter system (which operates under an established set of legal guidelines), the City must publicly establish rules and standards for the vendors that will be involved in these relief centers to ensure operational integrity and meet minimum environmental standards of care. When the emergency contracts for the relief centers arrive at our office for registration, we will ask to see the policies and standards vendors will be expected to adhere to. We cannot fully evaluate if the contract is appropriate without knowing what standards the vendors will be expected to meet. Those guidelines should include what oversight and independent organizations will have access. My office expects to have access to the sites to conduct oversight and ongoing monitoring to ensure the City fulfills its stated commitments.

“As part of our Charter-mandated responsibility to review and register City contracts, the Comptroller’s office assesses whether the necessary funding for a contract has been budgeted. In this case, the City is rightly stepping up to provide services at a cost which was not included in the City’s Adopted FY23 budget. This is part of why the emergency procurement request is appropriate. However, this does not mean the City should bear the cost alone. New York State and the Federal government must not continue to take advantage of the City’s expeditious action; each should step up immediately to bear its share of the costs.

“To be clear, any new strategies to triage the needs of newly arrived asylum seekers, some share of whom will require temporary shelter, must be accompanied by swift action to maximize the capacity of the existing shelter system, including by addressing barriers to exiting shelter into permanent housing.

“When I visited with some of the families seeking asylum at Port Authority last month, I was in awe of their journey and struggles. They have braved many horrors, arriving in our city with nothing but the clothes on their backs and their dreams of a better life. As we work to ensure that the welcome they receive here is safe and supportive, and that they receive all services and benefits to which they are entitled, we remain grateful and proud that immigrants are the past, present, and future of a thriving New York City.”