NYC halts free migrant bus service from Port Authority due to low staffing, high costsBy Jack Morphet, Bernadette Hogan and Jesse O’Neill
July 10, 2023
New York City has quietly halted the free bus service for migrants arriving at the Port Authority Terminal in Manhattan, forcing them to instead trek nearly a mile to the welcome center crosstown, The Post has confirmed.
Asylum advocates on the ground told The Post that the city moved to halt migrant transport services to the Roosevelt Hotel migrant welcome center over the Fourth of July holiday.
Instead of a bus ride, members of the National Guard are tasked with handing out fliers that show the newcomers how to walk across Midtown Manhattan — even if the migrants arrive in the middle of the night.
Officials confirmed they put the brakes on the hospitality program to cut costs, even as the city spends $7.9 million a day to care for the 52,600 asylum seekers currently in its care. The free bus reversal was first reported by Gothamist Sunday.
“With hundreds of asylum seekers continuing to arrive daily (not just through the PABT), we need the limited number of MTA buses that have been provided by the state to transport asylum seekers from the Arrival Center to their placements,” a City Hall spokesperson said.
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Source:
https://nypost.com/2023/07/10/nyc-halts-free-migrant-bus-service-from-port-authority-due-to-low-staffing-high-costs/
