© Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY
(New York, NY) – The building that stands at the corner of 130th Street and Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard in Harlem has been vacant for around 10 years. Built in 2007, it contains 35 units, per city records. And at least until recent days, there were plans to transform the vacant structure into a shelter for newly-arrived migrants.
It’s no secret the city’s been scrambling for months and looking for viable places to house migrants, as thousands continues to arrive from the southern border every month. So, the Adams administration figured it would setup a makeshift shelter there in Harlem. But locals pushed back, and a meeting was held nearby last Thursday to discuss the rumors. Mayor Adams turned up at that meeting unannounced, according to CBS News.
According to Fox News, Adams made it clear migrants won’t be housed at the vacant Harlem building. instead, homeless New Yorkers will be granted shelter there. They mayor said “I told the team, ‘Find out what’s going on here. (Because) we’re not moving folks into a brand new building when you have long-term needs in a community. That’s not going to happen. You will not have migrants and asylum seekers in that property.”
First advertised as a luxury building that featured a swimming pool, the property’s original developers abandoned the project after defaulting on loans.
