Fields Taken Over for Tents in Migrant Crisis Now Reopening
.Soccer fields were used to house migrants for three years. Now the Parks Department has restored four the fields and the kids are back!
| 17 Apr 2026 | 01:05
The kids are back on four of the Randalls Island fields that were the scene of huge migrant tents during the height of the migrant crisis but were restored for kids athletic pursuits recently by the Parks Department. (
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Workers ertected migrant tents on Randall’s Island in October 2022 as the city wrestled with the influx of over 225,000 asylum seekers who desceded on the city during the migrant crisis. The tents came down last year and four soccer fields were restored this sprint. (
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One of the four fields that were restored for kids athletic endeavors by the Parks Dept. after it was previously used as the site of tents to house asylum seekers during the migrant crisis. (
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Let the games begin!
Randall’s Island has four spiffy new ball fields, courtesy of the city’s recent $5.3 million restoration of soccer fields 82-85 which had been been used to erect massive tents for asylum seekers at the height of the city’s migrant crisis over the past three years.
At the time, it triggered backlash from parents and youth leagues because in Manhattan, ballfields for soccer, softball. lacrosse and baseball are always at a premium.
The restoration project had been announced in November 2025 by the Eric Adams administration, but the fields didn’t reopen until an April 10 community day this spring.
The newly restored fields are right over the 103rd Street footbridge from Manhattan. The fields that are now restored had been used as temporary housing for migrants from August 2023 until February 2025.
“It was hard for us as a team to get practices in,” said Ray Basso, Women’s Varsity Lacrosse coach at Hunter College High School, explaining that once the team crossed over the bridge by foot, they’d have to walk an extra 15-20 minutes to get to another set of fields under the RFK Bridge. “For us, it was a half-hour extension of our walk.” By the time his team got there, it would practically be time to leave.
That wasn’t the only problem.“Kids would have to pass by the migrant tents to get to the farther fields,” said Basso. George C., a coach-turned-referee who declined to provide his last name, agreed. “When the migrants were here, it was a little sketchier for the kids.” The situation became even more worrisome with the end of Daylight Saving Time in the fall it when it dark by 5:00 p.m.
Responding to Our Town’s request for comment, sources from the Randall’s Island Park Alliance said “Crime at and near the HERRC was documented and reported in the news and while we don’t have a further comment on it, both staff and patrons are excited to have the HERRC removed and the fields back.”
In fact, there was a surge in violence on Randall’s Island during the migrants’ tenure. In July 2024, one woman was killed and two others injured in a shooting spree near one of the shelters. Just two weeks later, a 26-year-old man was stabbed outside a shelter. There were fights, drugs, and even reported gang activity; the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua was said to be operating within the facility and recruiting migrants. The shelter closed its doors once and for all in February 2025.
On a recent warm Monday afternoon, Noah Klein, 18, a senior at Hunter College High School, pulled up on a Citibike and docked it at a station near the new fields, where his lacrosse team was practicing. “Previously we had to go all the way over there,” he said, pointing to fields under the RFK Bridge. “This is a lot more convenient. Three years ago was the last time we had access to them. They’re very nice fields. It definitely feels new. It feels fresh.”
Eighteen-year-old Claire Hardin had a similar experience. “I’m a senior, and the last time these fields were open was my freshman year. And it’s just a lot nicer to have the space, like that’s one thing we struggle a lot on Randall’s Island is finding space to play and practice, so just having like these extra fields makes it a lot easier for our team.”
Back in 2007, the Bloomberg Administration had made a deal with some of the city’s elite private schools including Dalton, Trinity and Spence, for the schools to pay over $40 million over 20 years to take of the fields in exchange for exclusive after school permits to use the fields from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. but the deal was eventually tossed by the courts.
Sources from the Randall’s Island Park Alliance called that a “common misconception” that some private schools still have field permit rights. “There is no agreement between the Alliance and private schools for the upkeep of fields. We have many donors who support the fields, the park in general and our work.”
The project restoration of soccer fields 82, 83, 84, and 85 was completed by William A. Gross Associates under a NYC Parks citywide services contract. The renovation included removal of the old turf and repair of worn pathways. “The project also included re-grading and leveling the subsurface to create a safer and more durable foundation for play, followed by the installation of new, state-of-the-art synthetic turf designed to withstand heavy use while reducing long-term upkeep.”
The fields were damaged and in need of restoration not only due to the shelters themselves, but also from tent encampments some of the migrants set up outside the shelters, because they didn’t feel safe inside. Many New Yorkers were angry about the damage, and the fact that it was their taxpayer dollars that funded the project.
The young athletes are just happy to have their fields back. So are their parents. As four members of the Bronx Science women’s lacrosse team piled out of a minivan, the driver, Maria, told Our Town, “I’m glad the fields are being used as intended.” She is the mother of three kids, all of whom grew up playing sports at Randall’s Island.
Ray Basso, the Hunter College High School coach, told Our Town he and his team missed these fields and are happy to have them back. “The four extra fields mean more games.”