The city plans to shutter six more migrant shelters, including the Creedmoor humanitarian relief center in Queens, officials said Friday. 

The shelter was set up to serve around 1,000 adult male asylum seekers when it opened outside the Creedmoor Psychiatric Center in Queens Village in August 2023. 


What You Need To Know

  • The city plans to shutter six more migrant shelters by June, including the Creedmoor humanitarian relief center in Queens, officials said Friday

  • The Adams administration previously announced plans to close dozens of other shelters, including emergency relief centers on Randall’s Island and at Floyd Bennett Field

  • More than 231,000 migrants have arrived in the city since spring 2022, with fewer than 45,000 currently staying in shelters — down from a peak of 69,000 last January, City Hall said

Its opening drew protests from Queens residents. Elected officials, including Queens Borough President Donovan Richards, had expressed concerns about the site, saying setting up a shelter in a “transit desert” would not best serve its residents.

In a release, City Hall said the Creedmoor shelter and five other yet-to-be-determined sites would close by June 2025, without providing exact dates. 

The Adams administration previously announced plans to close dozens of other shelters, including emergency relief centers on Randall’s Island and at Floyd Bennett Field

By June, the city will have closed 52 migrant shelters within a year’s time, City Hall said in its release. 

More than 231,000 migrants have arrived in the city since spring 2022, with fewer than 45,000 currently staying in shelters — down from a peak of 69,000 last January, the release said.

“Because of the decisions we have made and the policies we have implemented, including opening up our tent-based humanitarian relief centers and advocating for changes to national border policies, our administration has effectively moved to the opposite side of the mountain we were forced to climb,” Mayor Eric Adams said in a statement. 

News of the planned closures came days after the Federal Emergency Management Agency rescinded more than $80 million in funding the city had planned to use to house migrants in hotels. 

While Adams has vowed to work with President Donald Trump’s “border czar” to crack down on what the mayor described as “violent migrant gangs” in the city — saying he would soon allow U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to operate on Rikers Island and deploy more NYPD detectives to federal task forces — his administration pushed back against the funding clawback.

“While we conduct an internal investigation into how this occurred, our office has already engaged with the White House about recouping these funds and we’ve requested an emergency meeting with FEMA to try and resolve the matter as quickly as possible,” Adams’ deputy press secretary, Liz Garcia, said in a statement Wednesday. 

“The Corporation Counsel is already exploring various litigation options,” Garcia said.