New York City will require charter buses transporting migrants to provide 32 hours’ notice before arriving in the five boroughs, Mayor Eric Adams said Wednesday.
The new rule, issued by executive order, comes as the city expects to see a new surge of migrants in the weeks ahead, Adams said at a news briefing.
What You Need To Know
- Mayor Eric Adams has issued an executive order that will require charter buses transporting migrants to provide 32 hours' notice before arriving in the five boroughs
- The order will also require buses to pull up to one designated location at designated times, to ensure they arrive in a "coordinated and orderly way," Adams said
- The new rules come as the city expects to see a new surge of migrants in the weeks ahead, the mayor said. Failure to comply with the order will result in a class B misdemeanor
The order will require buses to arrive between 8:30 a.m. and 12 p.m. Monday through Friday, he said.
It will also only allow buses to drop passengers off at one spot — the Port Authority Bus Terminal on West 41st Street between Eighth and Ninth avenues — unless the city’s Emergency Management department says otherwise.
Adams said failure to comply with the order will result in a class B misdemeanor that could lead to fines, as well as buses being impounded.
“We cannot allow buses with people needing our help to arrive without warning at any hour of day and night,” he said. “This not only prevents us from providing assistance in an orderly way, it puts those who have already suffered so much in danger.”
“To be clear, this is not stopping people from coming, but about ensuring the safety of migrants and making sure they can arrive in a coordinated and orderly way,” he added.
In the last month, the city has recorded more than 14,700 new arrivals, the mayor’s office said in a news release.
Just last week, 14 buses arrived in the five boroughs in a single night — the highest number ever recorded by the city’s arrival center for asylum seekers, Adams said.
The mayor continued to accuse Texas Gov. Greg Abbott of using migrants as “political pawns,” saying Abbott “promised to send an additional 25,000 migrants to New York City alone” several weeks ago.
Adams said the city of Chicago has already taken action to require orderly bus arrivals. Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Denver Mayor Mike Johnston joined Adams virtually at Wednesday’s briefing.
After he announced the executive order, Adams once again called on the federal government for help, saying the Biden administration should issue a federal declaration of emergency and roll out a “national resettlement strategy” in response to the ongoing migrant influx.
“We need action, and we need it now. New York City is a city built by immigrants. We will work together to emerge from this crisis stronger than ever before,” he said. “The federal government must take responsibility and lead on this humanitarian crisis instead of leaving it for cities and localities to handle.”