With space becoming increasingly limited for housing asylum seekers, the city is potentially looking at a higher power for help.

“We have churches, synagogues, mosques, temples, why can’t they be used, as they have in the past, for individuals to sleep overnight, to have breakfast, to have a cot and when you do that, you get a lot of support from the community,” said Councilmember Gail Brewer of Manhattan.

About 60 faith institutions have shown interest in the effort that would reimburse churches for costs associated with food and cots.


What You Need To Know

  • A coalition of faith-based institutions led by the New York Disaster Interfaith Services has proposed a plan to leverage church space as shelter space for arriving migrants

  • Under the plan, churches would take in up to 19 single migrants and be reimbursed for costs associated with food and cots

  • The proposed plan is before the city and coalition said they hope to hear back soon

  • The plan comes as the Adams administration continues to struggle to house asylum seekers. So far, over 47,000 migrants have arrived with more than 28,000 migrants still in the city's care

The plan would only allow for 19 single migrants to be taken in per faith institution, a likely more appealing alternative compared to the large, open settings like the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal.

Church leaders said the reason for the small number of migrants per church is because going over 20 migrants would trigger complicated city ordinances that would make it more difficult to house asylum seekers quickly and efficiently.

The city’s response to the migrant crisis escalated in recent weeks, when single migrant men were removed from the Watson Hotel in Midtown to make room for arriving families.

The standoff ended after a week of protests from migrants who had concerns about the Terminal’s living conditions, prompting Mayor Eric Adams to sleep at the emergency relief center for a night.  

“It’s a created, manufactured controversy,” said Adams while appearing on Caribbean Power Jam’s “The Reset Show.”

The mayor emphasized that the city is fulfilling its obligation to house and provide services to arriving migrants.

“Shelter, COVID, educating the children, health care. Everything that one should be doing, we are doing,” said Adams.

Some say churches are arguably a more welcoming location than the current emergency shelters or relief centers.

“Will be a place, where as I said, people who feel threatened and afraid to be in a congregate shelter can come,” said Rev. Chloe Breyer, executive director of Interfaith Center of New York.

She noted the churches serve as a more intimate setting for welcoming newcomers.

“Usually human beings in a smaller setting will do better,” added Breyer.

Those involved in the proposed plan say that it is meant to be temporary and not a substitute for the city’s need for more affordable and permanent housing.

The optimal standards for the faith-based emergency shelters will be similar to the Broadway Presbyterian Church on the Upper West Side, which serves as a stabilization shelter that boasts a kitchen, bathrooms, multi-purpose room, laundry, library and computer room.

“The bare minimum of the proposal requires food, showers and laundry services,” said Isaac Adlerstein, executive director of Presbyterian Community Inc., which runs a shelter within the church.

The coalition of churches said their proposal is in front of the city and they are awaiting a response soon.

Faith-based groups or churches looking to get involved in the effort can visit New York Disaster Interfaith Services or Interfaith Center of New York for more information.