In the face of an escalating migrant crisis, New York City officials are grappling with the challenge of finding suitable accommodation for the influx of new arrivals.
A controversial proposal put forward by Mayor Eric Adams' administration involves repurposing the Metropolitan Correctional Center, a notorious downtown Manhattan jail that once housed some of the most infamous criminals, including Jeffrey Epstein.
The correctional facility was shuttered in 2021 after the Federal Bureau of Prisons deemed it unfit for human habitation, following years of decay. The Associated Press reports that city officials penned a letter to New York Governor Kathy Hochul on August 9, suggesting the former jail, among other buildings, as a potential migrant shelter.
The correspondence did not disclose whether the city had approached the FBP for permission to reopen the jail. The agency refrained from commenting on the matter, stating, "MCC New York is closed, at least temporarily, and long-term plans for MCC New York have not been finalized."
The jail, which once detained Mexican drug lord Joaquin El Chapo Guzman and mob boss John Gotti, has been mired in controversy since its inception. A judge declared it "unacceptably cramped and oppressive for most healthy inmates" just two years after its opening. Over the decades, its reputation has further deteriorated, with conditions deemed too appalling even for prisoners.
Murad Awawdeh of the New York Immigration Coalition expressed his vehement opposition to the proposal in a letter obtained by ABC7. He stated, "Mayor Adams likes to say that all options are on the table when it comes to housing asylum seekers, but certain places should most definitely be off the table. The Metropolitan Correctional Center was a notoriously decrepit jail, and is not a suitable place to support people trying to build a new life in a new country."
Awawdeh is not alone in his criticism. A growing chorus of residents and politicians are pressuring Mayor Adams to address the crisis more effectively, accusing him of failing to ensure the proper treatment of both New Yorkers and migrants.
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