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The reason: "We're not going to leave any stone unturned," Adams said during a news conference Monday. "We're going to find creative ways to solve this man-made humanitarian crisis."
New York has become one of the main destinations for asylum seekers transported from the southern border by Texas's Republican governor, Greg Abbott, in "Operation Lone Star" - an effort to bus migrants to Democratic-led cities, including D.C. and Chicago. Last week, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) employed a similar measure, flying 48 Venezuelans to Martha's Vineyard. The tactics have been decried by many Democrats. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre accused Republicans last week of "using migrants as political pawns."
Over 11,600 migrants have arrived in New York City since May, according to Adams; roughly 2,500 of them were sent on buses by Abbott. Many are asylum seekers from Venezuela, a country where economic and political turmoil has pushed nearly 7 million people to flee since 2015.
The wave has prompted New York to open up 23 emergency shelters, but the available housing is "nearing a breaking point," the mayor said.
Though the city is facing challenges, officials are committed to providing resources for migrants, Adams said in an appearance Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union."
"We're going to follow the law and as well as our moral obligation and responsibilities," Adams told host Jake Tapper. "As has been mentioned over and over again, this is a right-to-shelter city, and we're going to fulfill our obligations."
Under New York City law, anyone who doesn't have a roof over their head can find one through the homeless shelter system. The decades-old mandate is a product of several lawsuits that sought to secure homeless people's right to a safe shelter. But in the midst of a housing crunch, the pressure to fulfill that responsibility has called for creative approaches.
Adams first mentioned the cruise ship idea on Friday in an interview with Marcia Kramer on WCBS-TV.
"We're looking at that as a temporary measure and not as a permanent measure. A permanent measure is to get people into housing," Adams told Kramer.
He's not the first politician to raise the idea of a floating shelter.
In 2002, then-New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg proposed doing as much when the city's homeless population skyrocketed. City council members in Oakland, Calif., raised a similar plan to house up to 1,000 homeless people on a cruise ship in 2019, and that same year, President Donald Trump suggested cruise ships could be used to shelter Bahamians left homeless by Hurricane Dorian.
Although Adams mentioned the idea multiple times over the weekend, the details remain unclear. After being questioned about it at Monday's news conference, Adams told reporters: "When there's something to announce more about a cruise ship idea or any other idea, I'm going to announce it. I'm finished with that. Next question."
Reached by The Washington Post on Monday, the mayor's office was unable to provide answers on potential timelines or details about any cruise line partnerships. According to the New York Times, Adams met with Norwegian Cruise Line's chief executive in June, though a spokesperson for the mayor told the paper the meeting had "nothing to do with asylum seekers."
In his interview with Tapper, Adams said the Republican strategy of offloading migrants runs contrary to the nation's humanitarian identity, calling it a "blight on our entire country."
"In some cases, we had those who were covid-positive on the buses with individuals who were dehydrated, didn't have proper food. Some were even tagged, like you would tag an animal," he said.
The mayor added: "We should make sure that we treat people with the humanitarian ways that we are used to treating people in this country."
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