South Bronx residents, weary of ‘everything’ bad, decry new migrant shelter

Arya Sundaram

Published Jan 21, 2025

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New York City police cars in front of a building

Liam Quigley / Gothamist

Arya Sundaram

Published Jan 21, 2025

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The Adams administration’s plan to open a 2,200-bed migrant shelter in the South Bronx – as it closes dozens of migrant shelters throughout the city – is raising concern among borough residents, political and civic leaders who have long complained their community is overburdened by homeless shelters, dirty industry and isolating roadways.

“It's just total disrespect to the South Bronx,” said City Councilmember Rafael Salamanca Jr., whose district lies just north of the intended site – a vacant building off of Bruckner Boulevard and 141st Street. By his count, the area is already home to 60 shelters serving non-migrant homeless people.

“You're just dumping everything that's bad into the South Bronx, and it is wrong,” said Salamanca, who added that he has received at least a dozen calls and texts objecting to the facility, which the administration says will open by June. It'll serve single men transferred from the sprawling “tent city” emergency site for migrants at Randall’s Island, which is due to close next month.

Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson, whom Salamanca is challenging for her post, called the incoming shelter “deeply concerning and frankly unacceptable.” She added: “The Bronx continues to shoulder an inequitable share of the city’s challenges, with little regard for the needs of our residents, families, businesses and organizations.”

In his announcement of the Bronx site, Mayor Eric Adams said an overall decrease in the city’s migrant shelter population allows his administration to continue to “right-size populations in neighborhoods that previously held a significantly larger number of shelters and migrants during the emergency phase of the city’s response.”

Only 6% of the city’s migrant shelter population of 50,900 currently resides in the Bronx, compared to more than a third each in Manhattan and Queens, and the rest elsewhere, according to mayoral spokesperson Liz Garcia. Data on the distribution of non-migrant shelters across the city was not immediately available.

Another mayoral spokesperson, Kayla Mamelak, stressed that the Bronx shelter wouldn't be permanent. “While we are using the Bruckner site to accommodate migrants still in our care — and ensure people aren’t forced to sleep on the streets — this is a temporary effort that we expect to eventually close … as we continue to scale down this crisis,” Mamelak said in a statement.

The mayor announced Jan. 10 that the city will close 10 additional migrant shelters by June, upping the total of closures by that date to 46. The reductions come as the number of migrants coming to New York City and seeking city-supported shelter continues to drop.

Since the start of a immigration surge that began in 2022, 229,000 migrants have arrived in New York City and sought city-supported shelter. The vast majority – nearly 78% – have since exited the shelter system, according to City Hall data. The migrant shelter population, which reached a high of 69,000 in January 2024, has decreased for 27 consecutive weeks.

The announced closures include massive tent camps at Randall’s Island, located on the East River between East Harlem, the South Bronx and Astoria, Queens, and at Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn, as well as a sprawling shelter on Hall Street in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn. Each has faced loud and persistent criticism from nearby residents, who have complained about crime, excessive trash and changed public spaces.

Deputy City Council Speaker Diana Ayala, a Democrat who represents the South Bronx, acknowledges complaints from Bronx residents who have said that the borough shoulders more than its fair share of burdens, from dirty industry to clogged highways. More than a third of South Bronx residents live in poverty, according to a 2023 state comptroller’s report — more than double the poverty rate for the city overall that year.

Ayala said she suggested the long-empty building months ago, when the Adams administration asked city councilmembers for potential migrant shelter sites.

“The community is upset because fair share is an issue,” Ayala said. “They’re right to be concerned and upset. But this is a very temporary space.”

Javier Medina, the executive director of the Southern Boulevard Business Improvement District, referred to the Bronx site a “Catch-22.” He acknowledged a need to support the newcomers, but also worried about the potential for rising crime, a concern raised by neighbors of other large shelters, though city data on crime near large shelter sites has not been conclusive.

“Would it serve men who are looking to better themselves and want to get back on their feet? Absolutely,” Medina said. “But how are we going to be able to vet everyone who goes into that shelter for criminal records or anything else in their past?”

Adams said the administration anticipates partnering with local nonprofits to help migrants “take the next steps in their journeys towards self-sufficiency.”

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Asylum Seekers

Race And Justice Unit

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bronx