Mayor Adams urges landlords rent out warehoused apts for migrants

 NY Daily News

Turn up heat on city’s landlords, Eric urged

Critics say he should pressure them to make vacant apartments available for migrants amid estimates of 90,000 warehoused units

Excerpts:

The number of so-called warehoused apartments in the city is not entirely clear, but some have estimated there are more than 90,000 of them. This has led Ayala, a Democrat who represents East Harlem and parts of the Bronx, and others to question why Adams has pursued policies like housing migrants in school gyms, while forgoing efforts — at least publicly — to use actual apartments that may be more suitable for temporary living.

....

“We are looking at everything, including the warehousing of

apartments,” he said. “This is not just the mayor’s role to navigate the city out of a crisis. They cannot be on the sidelines saying why isn’t the mayor raising this. We all have to raise these issues that impact our constituencies.”

....

Sources in the Adams administration told the Daily News they’ve reached out to landlords privately to discuss housing migrants in their properties, and a spokesman for the Real Estate Board of New York, which represents building owners, said that the board itself has recently reached out to its members to pass along the city’s interest in identifying spaces.