Months after its announcement, New York City’s initiative to transform houses of worship into temporary shelters for migrants has seen minimal participation, with only four out of an anticipated 50 faith institutions currently housing migrants.
The program, unveiled last June by Mayor Eric Adams, aimed to alleviate the strain on the city’s overburdened shelter system and provide a cost-effective alternative to hotels or emergency shelters by housing 19 single adult migrants in each participating faith-based institution.
However, nearly nine months post-announcement, Rudy Giuliani, the executive director of the Mayor’s Office of Housing Recovery, revealed the program’s slow progress during a private briefing on Friday, February 23rd.
Upon the unveiling of the program, several houses of worship across the city applied to become shelters for the onslaught of migrants, with many of them being rejected or disqualified due to their facilities and safety regulations. In December 2023, a coalition of religious leaders and housing activists proposed adjusting the requirements that led to many houses of worship to being ineligible, creating a solution to the migrant situation, and increasing the use of churches as shelters.
Under this proposal, the city would collaborate with additional churches to accommodate up to 50,000 single men.
The city’s budget director, Jacques Jiha, noted in a council hearing that one of the cost-saving measures the city is seeking is to increase partnerships with nonprofit organizations rather than the for-profit companies they currently engage with.
Giuliani highlighted the challenges faced in meeting the Buildings and Fire Department’s regulations, particularly the costly requirement for sprinkler systems in congregate housing.
To bypass this obstacle, the administration has now reduced the required number of beds from 19 to 15, thereby broadening the eligibility for more houses of worship to participate in the program.
Giuliani expressed optimism in overcoming previous hurdles to lawmakers, stating, “We’ve lowered the bed count from 19 to 15 to get around the sprinkler requirement…so that freed up a lot more houses of worship that can be eligible. Since we’ve finally cleared our issues with the agencies, we have a clearer path to opening these sites, so we plan on moving forward at a much quicker clip than we have.”
Manhattan Councilwoman Gale Brewer questioned the timing of such adjustments due to the delay in implementing such solutions.
Brewer lamented the missed opportunity to provide shelter for migrants who, as a result, faced the cold winter outside. “The 1,000 people who were waiting down outside St. Brigid’s could have been in houses of worship,” she remarked, emphasizing the situation’s urgency.
Mayor Adams spokeswoman, Kayla Mamelak, later clarified that reducing the bed count does not solve all problems related to making houses of worship compliant with city regulations.
Despite these challenges, the administration remains hopeful that more faith institutions will join the effort in the near future.
Mamelak said, “Safety is our top priority. We are working to bring interested houses of worship into full FDNY and DOB compliance and streamline the inspection process so more faith partners can play a role [in] responding to this crisis.”
City Hall says approximately 65,000 migrants are currently accommodated in city shelters.
