New York City officials are tapping an Oklahoma-based group to manage an emergency homeless shelter for asylum-seekers on the Upper West Side, a decision that’s baffling the city councilmember who represents the neighborhood.
The Department of Social Services – which oversees the city’s largest shelter system – selected Cherokee Nation Management and Consulting to operate the shelter on 88th Street near Riverside Drive, said Councilmember Gale Brewer.
The shelter, which has a capacity of 125 rooms, is one of 100 sanctuary shelters that have been opened since last April by Mayor Eric Adams’ administration to house tens of thousands of asylum-seekers arriving from southern states after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border.
But the decision to select an organization that hasn’t worked in the five boroughs to run a shelter where newcomers rely heavily on staff to help with myriad issues poses some serious concerns, Brewer said.
“It makes no sense on any level to have an out-of-town – never been a provider in New York City – selected to do this job,” Brewer said.
“Where can I get English as a second language class? Where's the library?” she added. “Local people know that.”
Neil Nowlin, a spokesperson for Cherokee Nation Management and Consulting, declined to comment.
The consulting group is part of Cherokee Federal, a group of contracting companies owned by the Cherokee Nation, the largest indigenous tribe in the U.S. According to company brochures shared with local officials by DSS, Cherokee Federal has responded to humanitarian crises at the U.S.-Mexico border and around the world, including in Afghanistan.
The organization also touts that it was selected by the federal government to run an emergency intake center for unaccompanied minors in 2021 outside of Los Angeles.
Neha Sharma, a spokesperson for the Department of Social Services, did not say how much the city is paying Cherokee Nation Management and Consulting to operate the shelter or comment on why DSS is turning to an out-of-state provider to run its shelter.
“We are leaving no stone unturned as part of our emergency response, which includes working to identify new providers, including those with extensive national experience responding to humanitarian crises of this nature,” Neha said in a statement.
The arrival of asylum-seekers comes as the city’s shelter system is swelling and the municipal workforce faces a staffing shortage.
Currently, there are more homeless families and individuals living in city shelters than at any time since the system was created in 1981, according to the advocacy group Coalition for the Homeless. The arrival of thousands of migrants is further straining the already burdened system.
As of Tuesday, there are 73,770 homeless families and individuals in the main shelters, according to the city’s daily census count. Thousands more people live on the city’s streets, in the subways and in specialized shelters.
While more than a dozen existing providers expanded their operations to meet the growing need, demand is outstripping supply, said Catherine Trapani, executive director of the advocacy group Homeless Services United, a coalition of 50 nonprofit agencies serving homeless and at-risk adults and families in New York City.
“Many current providers are in a poor financial position to expand and have been unable to do so due to late contract payments, low salaries that lead to chronic understaffing, which makes opening new programs irresponsible,” Trapani said. “Others have been able to stretch and are opening new facilities. Still, even with uptake from the current crop of providers, demand is so high that the agency has had to recruit new providers.”
The Upper West Side shelter has been set aside to house families with adult children, Brewer said. The eight-story building once housed students at the New York Institute of Technology. Each floor has a kitchen and a coin-operated laundry room, according to the college’s website. Most rooms also have a private bathroom.
The shelter is currently operated by the National Guard and the staff at the city’s Department of Homeless Services, according to email correspondence sent by DSS to Brewer’s office and other city officials. The email was shared with Gothamist.
“Cherokee is not fully at the location as of yet,” according to one email sent Monday. “They are still ramping up.”
Chau Lam reports on homeless and poverty for WNYC and Gothamist. Send tips to CLam@nypublicradio.org