Eddie Perez lined up at The Bowery Mission in Chinatown early Thursday afternoon with hopes of getting a spot for the night.

“It’s rough, but you get to know people and people get to know you,” Perez said.

Without a bed at the shelter, he said he can only imagine where he’d be.

“I’d be on the street. The subway. Somebody’s backyard. An abandoned building,” Perez said.

The shelter routinely has to turn people away.

President and CEO James Winans said that’s because from November to December 2023, they saw a 40% increase in people seeking help.

The nonprofit said that’s the biggest increase since the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I think we’re in a very tumultuous time in our economy where people are finding themselves without housing, without jobs,” Winans said.

He said what they’re seeing is similar to a new report by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

That report shows a slightly higher 42% increase in homelessness across the city last year when compared to 2022.

Winans said what’s creating this surge in people seeking shelter is the financial fallout from the pandemic coupled with the migrant crisis.

“We are certainly seeing more people at our front doors who are new arrivals to New York who are speaking Spanish and French and Arabic,” Winans said.

The government report said the influx of asylum seekers accounts for an 80% increase in sheltered homelessness for people in emergency shelters.

The report also said the city now has the highest number of homeless people in the country.

Officials said the ongoing migrant surge has created a financial strain on the city.

“As those publicly funded resources have begun to max out, people are ending up here at The Bowery Mission,” Winans said.

It’s an economic burden the nonprofit also faces.

“We really need a lot more resources right now and a lot more help from generous New Yorkers, so we can meet the needs of each person that comes to our door,” Winans said.