Posted on October 4, 2022

Mayor Adams Close to Deal for Norwegian Cruise Ship to House Migrants in NYC Waters

Bernadette Hogan et al., New York Post, September 30, 2022

Mayor Eric Adams is finalizing a deal with the Norwegian Cruise Line to house migrants on one of its massive cruise ships and dock it at Staten Island’s Homeport, The Post has learned.

Adams wants to lease the luxury liner for at least six months and use it to house and process migrants before they enter the city’s shelter system, a source familiar with the matter said Friday.

The migrants would be allowed to come and go while staying on the ship, the source said.

Preliminary estimates show the plan will be “cheaper” than erecting another tent city similar to the one the city plans to open in the Bronx at the Orchard Beach parking lot, the source said.

The tent city, now under construction, is expected to cost $15 million a month to operate, The Post exclusively reported last week.

In addition to the Norwegian Cruise Line deal, the source said City Hall was negotiating the possible use of another ship owned by the Estonian company Tallink, which was hired by the Estonian government to house Ukrainian refugees who fled their country following Russia’s invasion.

About 15,500 migrants have flooded into the Big Apple since May amid a surge tied to President Biden’s southern border crisis, according to the latest City Hall estimate.

Adams — who’s said the influx is straining the shelter system to near its “breaking point” — predicted last week that the number could soon swell to 75,000.

Meanwhile, the mayor has been pleading with the White House for at least $500 million in emergency funding to pay for just one year of migrant services.

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{snip} US Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-Staten Island/Brooklyn) also fumed: “This is a ludicrous idea that could only come out of an incompetent administration.”

“Both Biden and Adams refuse to address the root of the problem and, instead, continue to incentivize illegal immigration,” she said.

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