NYC to build Emergency Relief Center in Brooklyn Cruise Terminal
Gov’t says center will provide housing, services to migrants currently in Midtown
RED HOOK – The city government announced Saturday that the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal in Red Hook will be converted into a Emergency Humanitarian Response and Relief Center throughout the coming weeks. City officials wrote a letter to the Biden administration on Jan. 20 requesting immediate aid to help with the influx of migrants arriving from Southern states, especially Texas and Florida.
The shelter at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal will remain open until spring, when cruise season begins, and the center will house approximately 1,000 single male asylum seekers. The single men currently housed at the Watson Hotel humanitarian relief center in Midtown will be transferred to the center at Red Hook.
The Legal Aid Society and Coalition for the Homeless have raised concern over whether the Red Hook facility will meet the city’s Right to Shelter requirements, and criticized local, state and national governments for utilizing migrants as ‘chess pieces’ in a larger game of hot potato.