A slew of elected officials and human rights advocates called on the mayor Thursday to rethink his “tent city” on Randall’s Island.
Taking to the steps of City Hall, the coalition — helmed by Housing Justice for All, New York Communities for Change, Make the Road New York and more — urged Hizzoner to find alternative solutions when it comes to housing the influx of asylum seekers. The group looked to remind the city that New York was once a hub for immigrants. Unfurling a banner quoting the Statue of Liberty’s plaque, which read: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses.”
Demonstrators took umbrage with the city’s Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Center, feeling that an assembly of tents is not adequate shelter and shouldn’t be used to house people, albeit temporarily.
