Migrant families with children won’t be forced to leave their homeless shelters during the holidays, but still face unclear directives from the city and a looming deadline to find other housing or reapply for shelter.
The first wave of families who received 60-day notices to leave their shelters were originally slated to be moved right after Christmas. Now, the Adams administration says it will let them stay an extra week.
“We just don’t want it to be optics,” Councilmember Rita Joseph said in an interview, calling on the administration to fully rescind the measure, which she said threatened to destabilize families and children. “Despite the delay in implementing the policy, they will still experience long-lasting effects. This is another form of displacement. This is inhumane.”
The delay came amid growing pressure from advocates, city councilmembers and the city’s largest teachers union, who all warned the policy would create chaos and traumatize children in the middle of the holidays, especially during their break from school.
City Hall spokesperson Kayla Mamelak declined to say when the first families would be asked to leave, but said those who still need shelter after their first 60 days will have to reapply for housing at the migrant intake center at the Roosevelt Hotel. News of the temporary reprieve was first reported by the news site The City.
Families who were in the city’s care the longest were first to receive 60-day notifications on a rolling basis.
The move is meant to encourage families to seek other forms of housing, working with caseworkers to reach out to friends or family in the city who could take them in, City Hall officials said. But many of the families have nowhere to go, according to migrants and their advocates.
“As we’ve said for months, we’re going to continue to treat people humanely, make adjustments as necessary, and do everything in our power to avoid having families with children be forced to sleep on the…
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