The Stratford Arms building at 117 West 70th Street (Google Maps)
Two Upper West Side migrant shelters are scheduled to close on February 1, 2025, Councilmember Gale Brewer announced on Tuesday. The decision comes as the number of new asylum seekers arriving in New York continues its 22-month decline.
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“The 2 Health+Hospitals operated migrant shelters on the UWS, Stratford Arms (117 W. 70th) and Amsterdam Residence Hall (207 W. 85th), will close on 2/1. Families will return to arrival center for new placement. Kids will stay in current school or move to school near new shelter,” Brewer shared on X (formerly Twitter).
The residents were moved out just a few months later, in September 2023, and relocated to a tent shelter on Randall’s Island. However, they were quickly replaced with a new group of migrants as the shelters sought to prioritize private rooms for families over single adults.
Now, it seems the shelters will be closed for good. However, the future of the buildings, which previously served as dorms for students of the American Musical and Dramatic Academy (AMDA), remains unclear. We reached out to a spokesperson for Council Member Brewer who told us “That’s up to the owner of the buildings, which is the American Musical and Dramatic Academy (AMDA). AMDA leased the buildings to the City of New York and that lease is ending with the closure of the two shelters. Our understanding is no new shelters are planned.”
The closings are part of a larger plan, announced by Mayor Adams yesterday, to close 25 shelters over the next two months.
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Among the shelters slated for closing, is the Floyd Bennett Field Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Center, which, because of its location on federal land, has raised concerns that it could lose its lease or be the target of immigration raids under the Trump Administration.
“Thanks to our smart management strategies, we’ve turned the corner, and this additional slate of shelter closures we’re announcing today is even more proof that we’re managing this crisis better than any other city in the nation,” Mayor Adams said. “Our intensive case management, paired with 30- and 60-day policies, have helped more than 170,000 migrants take their next steps on their journeys, because migrants don’t come here to live in our shelter system.”
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Thank God! The country is Red! Now, we continue with mass deportation. God bless America
You seem like a great guy, Anthony, Hope they don’t come after you next. Or, have you not thought that far ahead?
Please stop with the sarcasm. If you are intelligent and know how to read English, you should know they are only going after illegals, and so far, only those with criminal records. If you would like to house those illegal criminals in your home, please reply with your home address.
AWW, it was inevitable to happen.