Statement from Speaker Adams on Mayoral Administration’s Decision to Close the Randall’s Island HERRC and Open in Hotel

 

“From the beginning of this humanitarian crisis facing our city, the Council has advocated for Humanitarian Emergency Relief and Recovery Centers (HERRCs) to be sited indoors and identified several large hotels that were not remotely located. People who seek asylum in our city deserve to be treated with dignity, care and compassion, and we always believed this was more appropriate. I’m pleased to see the Administration implement this model that the Council recommended by closing the Randall’s Island HERRC and opening a new site in the Watson Hotel. This is the right approach for these intake services, and there remains important work and policy changes for the City to advance that move people out of shelter, such as removing the 90-day in-shelter requirement for CityFHEPS rental vouchers, and provide the critical supports for the individuals and families seeking asylum and all New Yorkers.”