The city launched a new way to ensure key resources are being made available to immigrant New Yorkers on Thursday.
The Immigrant Information Desk, created through a partnership between the City Council and the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs (MOIA), offers immigrants three physical spaces in the city where they can access resources related to social services, immigration legal services, health insurance assistance, eviction prevention and career development. The desks are open in Coney Island, Flushing and East Harlem.
“This initiative was born out of the council’s desire to provide rapid-response assistance to immigrants in need of city services at a time when distrust of government is at an all-time high,” City Council Speaker Corey Johnson said.
The desks, funded by the City Council and operated by MOIA with the help of other city agencies, are each staffed with one program manager and two on-site “navigators” who can help guide immigrants toward the services they need and assign referrals to community and legal organizations, including the New York Legal Assistance Group, City University of New York/LaGuardia Community College, Public Health Solutions and the Brooklyn Alliance.
Bitta Mostofi, acting commissioner of MOIA, described the Immigrant Information Desk as a “one-stop shop” that attempts to make the government more efficient in serving New Yorkers.
“Thanks to the leadership of the City Council and our partnerships with sister agencies and community providers, we’ve taken another step in making New York City the most immigrant-inclusive city in America,” Mostofi said.
Brooklyn, Queens and Manhattan were chosen for the start of the program because of the boroughs’ large immigrant populations, a MOIA spokesman said.
Here are the addresses and hours of operation for the information desks.
Flushing Library
196-36 Northern Blvd.
Flushing, NY 11358
Hours: Monday-Friday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 5 p.m.
Coney Island S22 SNAP Center
2857-2865 W. 8th St., 1st floor
Brooklyn, NY 11224
Hours: Monday-Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
NYC Health + Hospital/Metropolitan
1901 First Ave.
New York, NY 10029
Hours: Monday-Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
