New York City to open giant tent shelter for migrants being bused in from southern border states

New York — A complex of giant tents built on an island is set to open Wednesday as New York City's latest temporary shelter for an influx of international migrants being bused into the city by southern border states. The humanitarian relief center on Randall's Island is intended to be a temporary waystation for single, adult men — many from Venezuela — who have been arriving several times per week on buses chartered predominantly from Texas.   Spartan and utilitarian, the tents include cots for up to 500 people, laundry facilities, a dining hall and phones for residents to make international calls.   The city's plan is to bring single men to the facility once they arrive at the main Manhattan bus terminal and to house them there for a period of days while determining next steps, officials said. Families with children are being housed in a hotel. 

"We needed a different type of operation that gave us the time and space to welcome people, provide them a warm meal shower, a place to sleep, to understand their medical needs, to really then work with them to figure out what their next step is going to be," said Emergency Management Commissioner Zach Iscol.

CBS New York's political reporter Marcia Kramer got a tour of the facility on Tuesday and said the vast tent complex was built to withstand everything from heat to cold to 90 mile per hour hurricane-strength winds.