EAST VILLAGE, Manhattan (PIX11) -- The Legal Aid Society told PIX11 News of a recent development involving asylum seekers outside an East Village reticketing center; New York City is giving out numbers to reserve spots, thereby reducing the need for long waits.
It comes after dozens of migrants, who had reached the 30-day max in city shelters, were sleeping on cardboard outside the former St. Brigid's school in frigid temperatures. They were waiting to be given a new shelter bed or a ticket for transportation out of New York City.
The Legal Aid Society called the situation "unacceptable."
New York City Mayor Eric Adams' Chief of Staff, Camille Joseph Varlack, told PIX11 News that there was always the option for asylum seekers to spend the night in a waiting room in the Bronx and then return to the East Village in the morning.
"Some of them come early before St. Brigid's opens, and that's why you see a little bit of a line, but then they go inside. We make sure there is a waiting room, that there is a place they can go to so they don't have to be in the street overnight, so I want to make that clear," Varlack said.
Thursday night, a handful of migrants chose to sleep outside St. Brigid's again despite the updated policy.
"The Bronx is full, full of people, there a lot of people in the Bronx, no one can sleep there, this is why the people sleep here," Jonas, who is from West Sahara, said.
The Legal Aid Society said the waiting room on Bathgate Avenue is not at capacity, but it only has chairs, not beds.
English (US) ·