New York to Shuffle Migrants Across the State Using Housing Vouchers

File Photo

Migrants taking advantage of New York City’s free housing offer may find themselves in other cities as the mayor has unveiled a plan to pay for rentals in other parts of the state.

Buffalo, Binghamton, and other cities will see migrants moving in with housing vouchers paid by Big Apple taxpayers. It’s the first time the city will pay for the homeless to live elsewhere as Mayor Eric Adams struggles to provide shelter for up to 113,000 immigrants who took him up on his Sanctuary City invitation.

The move by Adams is also designed to save the city some money since housing costs outside the five boroughs are much less expensive. He’s calculated that the migrant crisis, which he said will “destroy New York City,” will cost taxpayers upwards of $12 billion over the next two years.

He’s also challenging a long-standing legal settlement that requires the city to provide shelter to anyone in need.

“These reforms will give longtime New Yorkers the ability to move out of our city’s shelter system to other parts of the state with more affordable housing options,” Adams said. “We hope our partners across the state will greet these longtime New Yorkers with open arms and good job opportunities.”

Officials outside of the city are against Adams shifting his migrant problem to their communities.

"While counties recognize the dire situation the city is facing, we are gravely concerned that the plan announced today will only exacerbate the affordable housing crisis that counties across the state are experiencing," said Association of Counties Executive Director Stephen Acquario. "We are also concerned that this action will add additional strain on county services like mental health, public health, and education, that are already stretched to the breaking point in many counties."

Acquario charged that the situation is proof of federal negligence and the refusal of the Biden administration to address the migrant crisis.

"Shifting a problem from one part of the state to another does not solve anything — it simply creates more problems," Acquario said.

Gov. Kathy Hochul is on board with moving the migrants around the state, stating, "There's no way of knowing how many people that will be, but it's also not forcing them to go upstate," Hochul said. "This is just one more tool they have to open it up."