NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) -- A day after saying the New York City government is looking at the idea of housing asylum seekers in private homes, Mayor Eric Adams said Tuesday that he is open to having migrants stay at Gracie Mansion.
During a school-related press conference at P.S. 75 on the Upper West Side, a reporter asked Adams if he'd take migrants into the mayor's official residence in Yorkville, a two-story house built in 1799.
"So funny you say that, because I was speaking with the staff to see if I could put a few families into Gracie Mansion," Adams responded. “If it doesn't go against the legal protocols—because there are legal protocols that are in place, you know, I can't use the building any way I want. But I don’t have a problem if I can put a migrant family in Gracie Mansion, because I want to lead from the front."
The mayor said he wants to lead by example as New York City deals with an unprecedented influx of thousands of migrants, mostly from the U.S. southern border.
"I'm a general that leads my troops into battle," Adams said. "So, yes, I'm more than willing to use whatever space I have to deal with this crisis."
He also expanded on his comments from Monday, when he floated the idea of giving New Yorkers with extra space the opportunity to house migrants in their private residences.
He said the city is exploring something similar to the $125 per night it's offering at least 50 houses of worship to house nearly 1,000 migrant men.
"If someone is struggling in their mortgage and they have a spare bedroom and we can find a way to say, 'How do we help you pay your mortgage, because of whatever economic challenge you're going through,' while at the same time helping the migrant crisis, we're going to do that," Adams said.
The city has already spent more than $1.2 billion on the migrant crisis this fiscal year and is projected to spend more than $4.3 billion by the end of June 2024, according to the mayor.
As of Monday, the city was caring for more than 46,000 asylum seekers. And it has supported more than 72,000 since migrants started arriving in the five boroughs last spring.
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