EXCLUSIVE: Drone footage shows the massive size of Randall’s Island migrant facility in New York to cope with the influx of migrants that is costing the city nearly $10 million a day

Drone footage reveals the scale of a huge “tent city” being built in New York to cope with a massive influx of migrants.

Work was well underway on Wednesday on a shelter about the length of two football fields, which will accommodate up to 2,000 migrants. Foundations were in place at the site, which indicated that several more massive structures would be built.

The massive facility is under construction on Randall’s Island as Mayor Eric Adams’ administration is forced to take increasingly drastic measures to deal with the tens of thousands of asylum seekers who have arrived in the city in recent times. month.

Adams said the site, staff and maintenance costs will all be paid for with public funds after reaching an agreement with Governor Kathy Hochul to fund the facility.

The mayor recently said New York’s migrant crisis is costing the city nearly $10 million a day.

The huge facility is under construction as Mayor Eric Adams’ administration is forced to take increasingly drastic measures to deal with the tens of thousands of asylum seekers who have arrived in the city in recent months.

This is the second time Randall’s Island, which sits just across the East River from Manhattan’s Upper East Side, has been used for a migrant settlement.

About 50 Randall’s Island construction workers were constructing a frame for one of the huge white tents that will occupy the Randall’s Island site on Wednesday. Roof panels had also been placed on the structure.

Work is believed to have started earlier this week after reports on Friday that the city had reserved the site for the installation. The foundations were in place for at least two more tents.

This is the second time that Randall’s Island, which sits just across the East River from Manhattan’s Upper East Side, has been used for a migrant settlement. A temporary site was placed on the island for about a month late last year.

A fleet of heavy machinery was also on site at the construction project Wednesday to transport the large quantities of construction materials needed for the installation.

Several men wearing hi-vis jackets and hard hats stood guard at a security checkpoint at the entrance to the site, occasionally opening the steel gates to allow deliveries and other vehicles to enter the site. site. None of the men wanted to discuss the project schedule, and the workers inside the site were also tight-lipped.

The facility spans the full length of two AstroTurf football fields and a total of four fields are believed to have been designated as the site for the facility.

Around 50 construction workers on Randall’s Island were constructing a frame for one of the huge white tents that will occupy the Randall’s Island site

Work is believed to have started earlier this week after reports on Friday that the city had reserved the site for installation

But the 2,000 migrants who can be accommodated at Randall’s Island are only a fraction of the roughly 60,000 the city supports.

The facility spans the full length of two AstroTurf football fields and a total of four fields are believed to have been designated as the site for the facility.

“As the number of asylum seekers we care for continues to increase by the hundreds every day, stretching our system to its breaking point and beyond, it has become increasingly a Herculean effort to find enough beds each night,” Adams said.

But the 2,000 migrants who can be accommodated at Randall’s Island are only a fraction of the roughly 60,000 who are cared for by the city.

Workers must also add the extensive infrastructure needed to accommodate thousands of people, including running water, showers and toilets.

The influx into New York continued this week when at least six buses full of migrants were brought to the Roosevelt Hotel in midtown Manhattan overnight Tuesday into Wednesday.

A large migrant family arrived Wednesday with their luggage at the Roosevelt Hotel

Over the past few months, Texas Governor Greg Abbott has transported nearly 10,000 migrants to the Big Apple

There are already more than 57,000 migrants sleeping in city shelters and the emergency housing system

The 1,000-room hotel closed during COVID and is now used by the city to house asylum seekers.

The hotel served as a processing center and last week became the epicenter of the country’s migrant crisis. Hundreds of asylum seekers lined the sidewalks outside the facility in the summer heat as the hotel reached capacity.

There are already more than 57,000 migrants sleeping in city shelters and emergency housing systems, and more were seen being bused into the city on Wednesday.

In recent months, Texas Governor Greg Abbott has transported nearly 10,000 migrants to the Big Apple.

Adams held a briefing Wednesday as he pleaded with federal officials for more support and money to help New York City manage the crisis.

“We are facing an unprecedented state of emergency,” Adams said. “This country’s immigration system has been broken for decades.

“Today New York was left to pick up the pieces.”

City officials had previously estimated that the city would spend about $4.3 billion by the end of fiscal year 2024 in July on housing, food and providing services to migrant families.

Since then, however, the number of migrants entering the city has skyrocketed, and city officials now spend an average of $9.8 million a day, or more than $300 million a month.

By July 2024, the city is now expected to spend up to $6.1 billion.

“New Yorkers’ compassion may be limitless, but our resources are not,” Adams said Wednesday. “And our partners at the state and federal levels know it.”