Floyd Bennett Field Migrant Shelter Set to Shutter in January
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On Tuesday, December 10, Mayor Eric Adams announced that the migrant shelter located in Floyd Bennett Field would be closing its doors by January 15, 2025. The Floyd Bennett Field shelter will join 24 additional migrant shelters across New York that will be closed by the end of March.
The controversial shelter first opened in the fall of 2023 on a one-year lease between the city and the National Park Service. That lease, due to expire, was extended just several weeks ago for an additional year. According to the terms of the lease, either party had the right to cancel with 90-days’ notice.
The shelter closures across the city come as the influx of asylum seekers into the city’s shelter system has seen a steady decline in recent weeks and has fallen to the lowest numbers in almost a year and a half. “Thanks to our smart management strategies, we’ve turned the corner, and this additional slate of shelter closures we’re announcing today is even more proof that we’re managing this crisis better than any other city in the nation,” said Mayor Adams in a press release on Tuesday announcing the closures. According to the release, more than 170,000 migrants have already moved on through the shelter system since the crisis began last year.
Many local officials representing Floyd Bennett Field’s neighboring communities of Rockaway and Marine Park, Brooklyn opposed the shelter from its inception — including going as far as to bring the matter to the courts. Councilwoman Joann Ariola and Assemblywoman Jaime Williams led a lawsuit which was filed in September 2023 — before the shelter had even been erected — to have the shelter removed. After working its way through the courts for several months, the case was dismissed in March of this year. In a statement released after the announcement, Councilwoman Ariola expressed her delight in hearing the news calling it “a win for all New Yorkers.”
“The closure of the migrant base camp at Floyd Bennett Field brings an end to a long, dark chapter in our city’s history. This camp has caused incredible difficulty for the communities it borders, and it has placed undue hardship upon the inhabitants placed there,” Councilwoman Ariola said. “I am glad to see that this period has finally come to an end.”
The migrants that are currently occupying the Floyd Bennett Field shelter will be relocated to active shelters. Families with school aged children being given priority placement to remain near their children’s current school.
