Exclusive: Inside a NYC migrant center

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Asylum seekers with children could soon be forced to sleep on the street because the migrant crisis has gotten so dire, New York City Emergency Management Commissioner Zach Iscol warned.

“I can’t think of any other emergency of this scope and scale where we had turned around and asked for help and been denied,” Iscol told Playbook on Wednesday night during an exclusive tour of three city respite centers.

Iscol was referring to months of pleas Mayor Eric Adams has made to the White House for more help managing the crisis.

The Biden administration has allocated over $135 million in funds, but Adams says that’s not nearly enough. In recent days, with beds claimed at conventional and emergency shelters, migrant men have been sleeping on the sidewalk outside the midtown Manhattan intake center.

“It’s been out of the public view until now,” Iscol told POLITICO. “And I think people really just had no idea about this hidden humanitarian crisis.”

Each respite center Playbook visited Wednesday night appeared orderly. There were NYPD officers outside and contracted security, fire guards, nurses, cleaning crews and other staff inside.

Migrant men there slept or talked quietly. They kept their scant belongings under their cots. Some were out for the evening, working off the books.

At the former Lincoln Correctional Facility in Harlem on Wednesday night, site manager Imelde Gjushi was offering boxed meals for dinner. She renewed her request for dining tables from Iscol, jokingly warning she would buy them herself if the city didn’t deliver.

Just across the street is Central Park, one of several major greenspaces where Adams is mulling erecting tents for migrants.

“Nothing’s off the table,” Iscol said.

“Is it like we have active plans to move into Central Park right now? No,” Iscol continued. “Is there a universe where we end up using Central Park? Yeah, for sure.”

The administration maintains a list of more than 3,000 possible sites, he said. Upwards 95,000 migrants have arrived to the city since spring 2022. Some 56,000 remain in its care and more are expected.

At what once was St. Margaret Mary church in Astoria, Queens, cots fill the chapel as well as the offices and classrooms. There are no showers on site, so migrants must walk 15 minutes to facilities at the temporarily closed pool at Astoria Park.

At a nearby respite center called Judo because it used to be a martial arts studio, there are three showers for the 300 men there.

Site manager Daniela Popobic showed Playbook what she called the reconnection room.

There, if migrants want to meet up with family around the country, “we book them a flight,” Popobic said. “And we send them out — one way.”

IT’S THURSDAY.

WHERE’S KATHY? Making an education announcement in Albany.

WHERE’S ERIC? Delivering an affordable housing-related announcement in Hudson Yards, meeting virtually with Caisse de Dépôt et Placement du Québec CEO Charles Emond and delivering remarks at a ceremonial ribbon for the new Center for Community Alternatives’ wellness center in Brooklyn.

ABOVE THE FOLD


LOCAL CASINO REVENUE: Tax revenue to local governments from New York’s four upstate casinos continues to be well below projections when they were first approved in 2014, a report set to be released Thursday and obtained by Playbook shows.

From 2017 to 2022, the report from Comptroller Tom DiNapoli says, the four casinos provided $176 million in gaming tax revenue to host and regional local governments. But only the three smaller towns where the casinos are located got significant fiscal benefits.

“Casinos are not a magic fix that will solve local fiscal challenges,” DiNapoli said in a statement. “While casinos have generated local gaming tax revenue, the impacts vary for the communities that receive such revenues.”

The report Thursday follows up on one DiNapoli did in 2020 that found the four upstate casinos — del Lago in the Finger Lakes, Rivers in Schenectady, Resorts World Catskills and Tioga Downs in the Southern Tier — had fallen well short of the projected gross revenues on which local taxes are levied.

Three years later, the tax revenue continued to lag, reaching only 50 percent to 60 percent of initial expectations when voters changed the state constitution to allow for Las Vegas-style casinos and lawmakers agreed to put four of the first seven in upstate to help the economy.

The only exception: Tioga Downs in the Southern Tier. In the host towns of Nichols, Tyre and Thompson, gaming tax revenue was sizable — making up between 30 percent to 60 percent of total revenue and allowing them to dramatically cut property taxes. — Joseph Spector

WHAT CITY HALL IS READING


Adams weighs plan to set up migrant tents in Central Park, other major green spaces, by Gothamist’s Elizabeth Kim

City spends $309K on four gas-guzzling SUVs to ferry Mayor Adams, other top officials, by New York Post’s Nolan Hicks, Bernadette Hogan, and Natalie O’Neill: “City Hall added a gleaming black Lincoln Navigator with tricked-out rims, a Chevrolet Suburban High Country with 420 horsepower and two luxury Ford Expeditions to its fleet of department cars.”

Holy Crap: City Council Aims to Build Thousands of Public Toilets Across NYC, by Hell Gate’s Christopher Robbins

FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: Good government group Citizens Union has sent a letter to Judge Laura Taylor Swain calling for a federal takeover of New York City jails.

The group, led by former Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum, is normally supportive of local control, “but the situation on Rikers Island is unprecedented and a different kind of authority is needed there to save lives.”

Citizen Union joins a long list of criminal justice advocates and elected officials — including Public Advocate Jumaane Williams and Comptroller Brad Lander — who support the appointment of a federal receiver.

Mayor Eric Adams has opposed it, claiming his administration is improving the long troubled system. Judge Swain has scheduled an Aug. 10 conference to discuss a federal takeover. — Jeff Coltin

TRUMP'S NEW YORK

How Rudy Giuliani Became Co-Conspirator 1, by The New York Times’ Jonah E. Bromwich: “The next chapter in his long public life will now be written by the special counsel who filed the indictment, Jack Smith, who can prosecute him, pressure him into cooperating or leave him dangling.”

— AND ALSO: Wild transcripts show Rudy Giuliani made lewd comments to his rape accuser, insulted Jewish mens’ genitals, and accused Matt Damon of being gay, by Insider’s Jacob Shamsian

WHAT ALBANY'S READING


NY lawmakers are nation’s highest paid. GOP members are now suing for uncapped outside income, by Lohud’s Chris McKenna: “They would now earn $142,000 a year, plus extra dough for leadership roles. But that came with a new cap on outside income that would let them to earn no more than $35,000 as lawyers, business owners and other jobs while holding their state offices.”

Housing exec orders don’t outweigh future legislative action, officials say, by Spectrum News’ Kate Lisa

TAKING A SECOND SHOT: Assemblymember Michael Benedetto will be getting a 2024 primary challenge from Jonathan Soto, who got 36 percent of the vote against him last year.

Soto, a former organizer for Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and a Bill de Blasio administration staffer, exclusively told Playbook about his plans to challenge Benedetto with progressive support in the plurality Latino district.

Soto is once again campaigning on ending mayoral control of city schools, which Benedetto negotiated to extend as chair of the Committee on Education.

“We know the mayor is an ally of Benedetto,” Soto said of Adams, who endorsed the East Bronx Democrat last year. “Are you happy with the services you’re receiving, or do we need more alternative programming in our schools?”

A Benedetto spokesperson said voters have backed him before and they will again. — Jeff Coltin

SEEKING HOCHUL’S VETO: A measure that will head to Gov. Kathy Hochul’s desk could make it easier for people to sue non-New York companies doing business in the state.

But a coalition of private-sector organizations this week urged Hochul in a letter to veto the legislation.

“This will attract lawyers and plaintiffs from all over to sue in our state courts over incidents that happened elsewhere in the world,” the groups wrote in the letter to Hochul provided first to Playbook.

“New York already has a reputation as the lawsuit capital of the world. Enacting this bill would codify that reputation, transforming the Empire State into the world’s courtroom — clogging up our already overburdened courts.”

Backing the veto call includes groups like the Lawsuit Reform Alliance, the Business Council of New York State and the Partnership for New York City. Hochul vetoed similar legislation last year. — Nick Reisman

AROUND NEW YORK


— New York City Council will likely vote on outdoor dining regulations on Thursday. (Gothamist)

— Dan Doctoroff, the builder of the city, is facing his own crisis. (Curbed)

— The hunt for the Gilgo beach serial killer was delayed by prosecutorial infighting. (Washington Post)

SOCIAL DATA


HAPPY BIRTHDAY: ABC’s Ben Siegel and John Parkinson … Brian Morgenstern … City Journal’s Brian Anderson … NYT’s Clarissa Matthews … Jacob Weisberg of Pushkin Industries … CNN’s Joe Ruiz … Mandela Jones, deputy chief of staff for communications at the New York City Council … Reuters’ Brad Brooks … Alberto Pimienta … SKDK’s Rachael Shackelford … FT’s Emily Goldberg … Brian Kateman

… (was Wednesday): Henry Elghanayan ... Jack Jacobs ... Avi Lauer ... Steven Cook ... Eric Meyrowitz (h/ts Jewish Insider)

MAKING MOVES — Matt Wing has launched Wingspan, a communications and marketing firm focused on tech, government and politics. He was previously with United Masters and Uber, and he was a press secretary for then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo

… Henry Greenidge is joining Cruise as head of government relations, East. He was previously executive vice president at Tusk Holdings.

WEEKEND WEDDING — Harrison Kleinman, a shareholder in the real estate practice of Greenberg Traurig, recently married Danielle Berman, a solutions specialist at Microsoft. The couple met in 2017 at a bar in the Hamptons but were later set up in October 2018. Pics by Tamara Gruner Photography … Another pic

Real Estate


Rod Watson: Don’t blow chance to build more than just a stadium, from Buffalo News: “Beyond constructing a stadium, the Bills and Gilbane/Turner have the chance to build the diverse community of subcontractors and skilled workers that other projects have failed to deliver.”