FDNY shuts down shelter for asylum seekers in Midtown Manhattan, citing inadequate fire alarm system
NEW YORK -- Another shelter for asylum seekers has been shut down by the FDNY.
According to the mayor's office, 130 men were moved out of the shelter on 31st Street and Seventh Avenue -- right near Penn Station -- on Monday due to it having an inadequate fire alarm system.
A sign on the door reads, "Vacate. Do Not Enter. The fire department has determined that conditions in this premises are imminently perilous to life in case of fire."
The mayor's office said the Office of Emergency Management worked with the FDNY to take actions, such as hiring fire guards to supplement for the alarm system for the approximately three months the shelter was open.
- Related story: Asylum seekers moved from St. John Villa Academy shelter on Staten Island over fire code violations
City Hall sources said this is the same location a mayoral aide tried to inspect last week, and added that two security personnel who wouldn't let the aide in had to be taken into custody.
The sources said the FDNY is clashing with the Office of Emergency Management and the mayor's office over making sure the locations are in compliance.
As CBS New York reported last week, the fire department has said a number of shelters had to be closed due to fire safety hazards.
It comes as the number of migrants coming to New York City each week has jumped from 2,400 to 4,000.
The mayor's office said the shelter, a former Touro College site, was never meant to be a long-term solution to the crisis. The mayor's office did not immediately respond when CBS New York asked where the men staying there were sent.
FDNY sources said inspections at the site will continue.
