Filled with cots, games and showers, the Randall’s Island emergency relief center is ready to receive its first group of migrants.

That is the message city officials made as they gave a glimpse inside the facility that has been criticized by some lawmakers.


What You Need To Know

  • City officials gave a tour of the Randall's Island emergency relief center on Tuesday

  • The facility will open on Wednesday and is expected to house about 500 single, adult men

  • As part of the center, asylum seekers will be given three meals a day, stay in a temperature-controlled dormitory, have laundry service on site and be able to entertain themselves with a recreational room

At the center, asylum seekers will be given three meals a day, stay in a temperature-controlled dormitory, have laundry service on site and be able to entertain themselves as they determine their final destination.

"We in New York City wanna be as helpful as possible for asylum seekers to get to wherever they need to get to. Unfortunately, for many, New York City is not the place, so this will give us the capacity to be able to do that for so many people who are arriving in New York,” Manuel Castro, commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs, said.

Officials said the center is not meant to be a detention center and aims to give arriving asylum seekers a refuge amid their harrowing travels.

The Randall’s Island center is the second relief center opened by the city. The Row Hotel, which opened over the weekend in Manhattan, serves families with children.

Officials brushed off concerns about inclement weather and flooding, saying that the tent scructures can handle high winds and are built for year-round use.

“They can withstand 90 mph winds. They are used all over the country, in every climate and place, winter weather, summer weather. We have a snow removal plan so I don’t really know how these are because of weather,” Zach Iscol, commissioner of NYC Emergency Management, said.

Those migrants choosing to stay at the Randall’s Island center will be bussed there directly from the Port Authority Bus Terminal. Upon arrival, migrants will be greeted by city workers, many of whom are bilingual, who will work closely with them to reach their destination.

Officials stressed the relief centers are meant to be temporary, while also admitting the city is facing an unprecedented crisis.

“This is also a short-term facility. People aren’t going to be living here. This is a short-term solution for people to figure out what their next destination is going to be,” Iscol said.