According to a local news agency, City Hall plans to hand over management of all shelter operations to the Department of Homeless Services by June 2026, including those hosting asylum-seeking immigrants.
The idea follows two years of operating an ad hoc “shadow system” of separate shelters for migrants, frequently run by agencies other than the homeless services department and outside of New York’s traditional “right to shelter.”
Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services Anne Williams-Isom described the transfer plan during a National Immigrants Day event last month, according to numerous attendees.
The change is reflected in updated budget documents issued by City Hall Wednesday afternoon, which show the changeover will take place by the conclusion of the upcoming fiscal year, which begins July 1.
Beginning in the spring of 2022, New York City experienced an uptick in the number of migrants arriving by bus from border settlements. At the time, the homeless agency established some emergency shelters in hotels, but by the fall, it was overloaded as the number of new arrivals continued to rise.
Other institutions, such as the Health and Hospitals Corporation and New York City Emergency Management, stepped in to quickly establish warehouses, motels, tents, and gyms for these new visitors.