Hundreds of asylum seekers wait in the snow for New York City shelter assignments
NEW YORK -- For a second day Tuesday, hundreds of asylum seekers stood out in the snow, sleet and freezing temperatures in hopes of getting assigned a place to stay.
Some wore sandals and didn't even have a coat.
As per the mayor's new rules, after 30 days, adult migrants are evicted from city housing and must check in to be reassigned.
The line wrapped around the block outside Saint Brigid's on Avenue B in the East Village.
One woman said she was assigned number 13,447 six days ago. Her friend next to her wore socks with flip flops in the cold and wet line.
Another person said she is asthmatic and showed proof to be assigned shelter faster, but "they didn't really care," she says. She described the nightly trek to the Bronx to sleep on the floor, without any sheets.
Video shared with us from Queens shows what happened when they say they were kicked out around 5 a.m.
What appear to be security guards try to throw them out.
"You're treating us like animals, we're dead tired of this," one woman yells in Spanish.
"We came here looking for protection but are being mistreated by the people who work here, security," one person told CBS New York in Spanish.
The people we spoke with say the food the city is providing them is frozen and not edible. They say good Samaritans on the street are doing more for them than the city.
"It's very cold outside. If I sleep in the street or church, I think maybe I will die or get a fever," asylum seeker Hui Wei said.
"For eight days, we've been standing out here suffering in the cold for what?" asylum seeker Carlos Bacca said in Spanish.
CBS New York's Lisa Rozner asked the mayor, "They told us today they feel like they're being treated like animals. I wanted to know what your response was."
"To those who are there that feel as though they're being treated unfairly, that is not our desire. Our desire is to accommodate people with the best within our means," Mayor Eric Adams said.
The city says right now, the average wait time for single adults to get into new shelter is five days.
Meanwhile, a curfew goes into effect Tuesday night at four of the city's migrant respite centers. Roughly 1,900 adult asylum seekers staying at the facilities will need to be checked in nightly between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m.
Officials say exceptions will be granted for work, travel to school, legal appointments and medical needs, but passes will be required.
People caught violating the curfew three times in 30 days will be removed from the centers.
for more features.
