Largest migrant relief center in NYC opens on Randall’s Island

New York City’s largest relief center for migrants opened Sunday on Randall’s Island, where officials said there will be enough space for up to 3,000 new arrivals.

The sprawling tent facility is designed to house adult asylum seekers — and its opening comes as city officials report more than 100,000 migrants have passed through the five boroughs since last year, about 58,000 of whom remain in the city’s care.

City officials have deployed MTA buses to help transport people staying in the tents between the island and Manhattan or Queens — and said security guards will be stationed at the space around the clock.

The city temporarily opened another smaller relief center on Randall’s Island last year. Manuel Castro, the city’s commissioner of immigration affairs, said during a news conference that the new tent facilities provide better housing for migrants than many other shelters across the five boroughs.

“These facilities are well constructed,” said Castro. “They have quite a lot of ample space for migrants, for asylum seekers to congregate and spread out to. And in fact, when we spoke with asylum seekers who stayed here in October, they actually really enjoyed these spaces.”

The new center includes three sleeping tents with cots laid from end-to-end, a cafeteria tent filled with large picnic tables and dozens of other tents and trailers filled with toilets, showers and medical clinics. Crews on Sunday were still constructing another tent where migrants will be able to sleep.

The facility straddles three sports fields in an idyllic location on the southern tip of Randall’s Island near a popular park where families go to relax.

Nabou Ba, who was barbecuing with her family near the tents, said housing the new arrivals is more important than her own day in the park.

“They are human beings and need a place to stay,” Ba said. “If we have to give up…