Since early October, an ecosystem of barbers, vendors and chefs has sprung up outside one of the city’s largest migrant shelters at Randall’s Island Athletic Field 83.
Faced with lengthy bureaucratic delays, tens of thousands of Venezuelan migrants are slipping into the city’s underground economy and joining its army of undocumented workers.
Mayor Eric Adams announced on Thursday that the city would take down the 84,400-square-foot facility and reopen a new migrant center in Midtown Manhattan.