The floating jail barge in the Bronx is the latest location being considered by city officials as a housing option for the influx of migrants in the Big Apple, The Post has learned.
The Adams administration on Friday toured the Vernon C. Bain Center – an 800-bed city jail on a barge — to determine whether the facility could be used as a “possible” temporary shelter for migrants, a source revealed.
If Adams greenlights the move, the source noted, around 700 prisoners would need to be relocated across the East River to Rikers Island.
“All options are on the table,” said a City Hall spokesman, who neither confirmed nor denied Friday’s visit.
The city has desperately searched for additional locations to shelter its growing migrant population.
Over 72,000 migrants have arrived in the five boroughs since last spring and nearly 46,000 are currently housed in over 160 taxpayer-funded emergency shelters, including hotels.
New York State received approval earlier this week to use an old US postal service warehouse as a “respite site” for up to 500 individuals.
The iconic Roosevelt Hotel on Manhattan’s Upper East Side is currently serving as a “welcome center” for new arrivals.
City Hall said over 2,200 migrants, including families with kids, were processed at the hotel last week.
