New York mayor migrant tents raises questions about NYC’s right to shelter mandate

Mayor Eric Adams’ administration recently announced its decision to temporarily house asylum seekers from South America in massive tent facilities. The mayor says the tents would take the pressure off the city's straining shelter system, where more than half of the 15,000 asylum seekers that have arrived since the spring are residing.

But the sprawling white tents filled with cots may breach the city's long standing legal obligations to provide shelter to anybody who seeks it. A tent facility for adult asylum seekers is being built at Orchard Beach in the Bronx. A second facility will primarily house families, but its location has not been announced.

Josh Goldfein is a staff attorney for the Legal Aid Society, a non-profit legal group that assists low-income families and individuals. He sat down with WNYC’s Sean Carlson to discuss the city’s decision to temporarily house migrants from the southern border in large tents.