State officials on Thursday are expected to tour the SUNY Cobleskill campus as a potential site for housing migrants, Schoharie County Board of Supervisors Chairman Bill Federice said Wednesday in an interview.
At the same time, former psychiatric facilities are also being considered, Federice said.
Mohawk Valley officials held a roughly half-hour phone call on Wednesday with a regional representative for Gov. Kathy Hochul's office as state and local government officials contend with an expected rise in migrants coming to New York in the coming days after the expiration of a federal pandemic order.
Federice added all SUNY campuses were being considered as potential housing sites. The tour of Cobleskill is expected to include officials from the state Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services.
"They confirmed there would be a team of people checking out the campus for suitable," he said in a phone interview. "But no commitments made yet."
Hochul told Spectrum News 1's Washington bureau SUNY campuses could serve as a potential option, but not in the long term.
Hochul's office referred to the governor's comments in the interview in response to questions about the tour of the SUNY campus.
"Clearly a SUNY campus lends itself to immediate help, but long-term, we have to have it free by August. So, what happens in August?" she said. "So these are the questions we're asking right now. We are looking at every possible property in the State of New York to help have a relief valve for the City of New York."