New York City Mayor Eric Adams has claimed that almost half of all city hotel rooms are occupied by illegal aliens due to the migrant crisis.
Adams made the comments during a media briefing in Harlem on Wednesday while addressing criticism for his handling of the crisis. He stated that laces are needed to accommodate people. To handle the onslaught, "Almost half of all hotel rooms now are taken up by asylum seekers. Think about that. I'm not sure what it's going to take before people hear what I am saying," said Adams.
Adams added that New York City is the hotel capital, and almost 50% of those hotel rooms are being taken up by migrant asylum seekers. However, City Councilwoman Diana Ayala, from the same party as Adams, accused him of exaggerating the problem, stating that it would be impossible and the math doesn't add up.
Officials estimate that about 65,000 migrants have recently arrived in New York City. Still, many have been placed in public school gyms, emergency relief shelters, and some homeless shelters.
Adams demanded that the federal government do more to help his administration deal with the crisis at the border. He said, "Instead of moneys coming from people who are visiting us and spending and our tourism and our Broadway plays instead of them using those hotels, we're using those hotels." However, various hotel officials dodged queries from the New York Daily News to confirm the claim made by Adams.
Adams has also faced criticism from the left for reports that his administration was seeking to place some of the migrants on Rikers Island. Officials expect a surge at the border after Title 42, a Trump-era immigration policy, has ended and forced the government to allow asylum-seekers to stay in the U.S. while awaiting processing.
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