Heavy rainfall causes Randall’s Island tent facility for migrants to leak like a sieve

Rain from Friday’s downpour inundated the Randall’s Island tent facility for migrants, seeping in from the cracks in between floorboards and leaking from the temporary roofs, forcing occupants inside to cover up with plastic sheeting.

Videos obtained by Gothamist showed water oozing up from below and falling from overhead light fixtures, leaving droplets on plastic-covered cots. Migrants and advocates said residents used plastic bags to protect their belongings and themselves as remnants of Tropical Storm Ophelia caused flooding throughout the region.

Kayla Mamalek, a spokesperson for Mayor Eric Adams, told Gothamist around 11:20 a.m. there was minimal leaking in a couple of the tents, which serve as emergency shelter for migrants, and that the problem was quickly addressed. She did not respond to further inquiries, including whether any residents had to be relocated.

Advocates and migrants said the soggy conditions continued throughout the day.

The issues follow past criticism and concerns about potential flooding at some of the city's emergency migrant shelters. Last October, Adams relocated a planned tent shelter from Orchard Beach in the Bronx, after the site flooded with several inches of water.

P.P., a 28-year-old migrant from Russia and Ukraine living at the Randall’s Island shelter, said water was leaking into the area where she slept as of 3 p.m.

“It's still leaking,” P.P., who requested her full name not be used because she feared retaliation, said in Russian. “Everything is covered in garbage bags."

“It's still leaking. Everything is covered in garbage bags."

P.P., a 28-year-old migrant at the Randall's Island tent facility.

Rainwater began to seep into the tent as early as 8 a.m., according to migrants' and advocates' accounts. Videos of the scene were provided to Gothamist by P.P., the South Bronx Mutual Aid group, and Colectiva de Ayuda Mutua NYC, another mutual aid group.

The tent facility, which opened in August, can accommodate up to 3,000 adults and is among more than 200 shelters the city has set up in the past year to house tens of thousands of newly arriving migrants.

“The water accumulates right underneath [the tent facility], so they're basically swimming,” Anna Jaffe, a volunteer who works with migrants, said of the site. “It's basically a ship.”

An even greater amount of rainwater leaked into the tent camp late last week, migrants and their advocates told Gothamist.

“Last time they had rain, water was falling from every possible hole and corner," said Jaffe, who interpreted for P.P. "They felt very unsafe and agitated. They were panicking."

Migrants staying at the facility have to use bathroom trailers outside, further exposing them to the elements. “There is no way you can be dry,” P.P. said in Russian.

As of 5:50 p.m., the MTA's website said M35 buses — the only available public transit on the island — were suspended due to flooding there.

Ariadna Phillips, an organizer with South Bronx Mutual Aid and NYC Colectiva de Ayuda Mutua, said many migrants had asked for warm clothes because they felt cold and wet.

She criticized the city for placing the shelter on Randall's Island, referring to similar concerns advocates had raised about flooding at he former Orchard Beach site.

"We were in the same exact place a year ago,” Phillips said.