Dear friends,

Last week, a number of homeless families with children spent the night in a former police academy facility in Manhattan, one of the most recent sites the city has tapped to house asylum seekers ([link removed]) . The building’s gym was set up with rows of green cots, and residents received a blanket and a kit with toothpaste, toothbrush, shampoo, and a towel.

Wanda, a 21-year-old Venezuelan who arrived in New York earlier this month after crossing the border in Brownsville, Texas, was among them. “I have more friends here,” Wanda told a City Limits reporter in Spanish, of the reason she came to the city. These friends have guided her in accessing resources and looking for a job, she said. “Here I felt calm and cared for, protected.”

Since last year, more than 60,800 migrants have arrived in New York, with more than 37,500 remaining in the care of the city. Last week, the mayor suspended several rules related to the city’s decades-old “right to shelter” policy that dictates standards for homeless shelters, calling them “just not realistic” in light of the current capacity issues. Our reporters looked into what this change could mean ([link removed]) for asylum seekers and other New Yorkers experiencing homelessness, and for the city’s social safety net more widely.

We hit the streets developing this story—and we’ll continue to report on conditions in the city’s shelter system and on how government leaders respond to the ongoing crisis. But, as a nonprofit newsroom, we need your help.

Will you support our local independent journalism and help us continue to tell stories like this one?
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With gratitude,
Jeanmarie Evelly

Executive Editor, City Limits

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