Days of criticism and complaints over the new migrant shelter at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal pushed a half dozen elected officials to tour the facility for themselves Wednesday.

Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, City Councilmembers Shahana Hanif, Lincoln Restler, Alexa Avilés, Jennifer Gutierrez and Erik Bottcher all heard first hand from migrants living there.

“I’ve heard, yeah, it’s people being grateful for certainly how the city is moving forward to help them,” said Avilés, whose district includes the terminal.

Other migrants have expressed concerns about the new shelter, including dozens who spent days camped outside the Watson Hotel in Hell’s Kitchen in protest. The hotel is where the Adams administration had been housing single male migrants until it ordered them to vacate last weekend to make room for migrants with families.

On Wednesday night, hours after the tour, city workers cleared out the camp in front of the Watson Hotel, the mayor's office said.


What You Need To Know

  • The Brooklyn borough president and five City Councilmembers visited the shelter the city set up for asylum seekers at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal

  • Some migrants have expressed concerns about the new shelter, including dozens who spent days camped outside the Watson Hotel in Hell’s Kitchen in protest

  • The elected officials said the set up they observed in the shelter gives them concerns about what they call a lack of privacy and dignity

Some of the men refused to relocate to new the Brooklyn shelter, which also only houses men, after hearing others compare it to a jail, with no heat or bathrooms.

One migrant supplied NY1 with unverified video of what they said is the inside of the shelter.

The officials debunked some rumors following their tour and said the shelter has a lot of accommodations.

“Sixty seven showers outside, and then 28 rest stalls inside averaging one stall per 10, and 70 showers outside within the tent structure,” said Brooklyn City Councilmember Shahana Hanif.

Officials also said there are about 100 toilets, heat, food and 1,000 cots stacked head to toe out in the open.

The Brooklyn borough president and councilmembers say the set up gives them concerns about what they call a lack of privacy and dignity.

“It’s a situation that is I believe intended to encourage people to move along as quickly as possible the city of New York is trying to discourage people from seeing in your care and that’s why they set up this kind of congregate facility in the way that they have,” said Brooklyn City Councilmember Lincoln Restler.

“We’re going to continue to demand that we hold a standard of dignity for all humans because all humans deserve dignity,” Avilés said.

They also said it’s poorly lit at night and far from transportation, and that most migrants have no idea where they are.

“There is concern about ‘where am I? I just came from Midtown Manhattan and I am in a cruise terminal somewhere in Brooklyn,’” Aviles said.

Before being cleared out Wednesday night, roughly a dozen migrants continued saying they were camping outside the Watson Hotel and still refusing to go to Brooklyn.

Mayor Eric Adams refutes the allegations the terminal is insufficient and called some of the activists working with migrants agitators. His office posted pictures from inside the Cruise Terminal saying there’s heat and hot water and the setting is appropriate for single males.

“We are moving children and families into the hotel,” Adams said. “Single adult males all over the city are living in congregant settings, single adult males. Children and families we do not want to place in congregant settings.”

The mayor also said he spoke about the migrant crisis with President Joe Biden during his visit to the city Tuesday and that the city is still waiting for federal money earmarked last year for the crises.

He also said he told the President he wants someone appointed to coordinate with the federal government to help the cities impacted by the influx of migrants​.