‘Adams Tent City’: Google tags mayor in mapping NYC’s new migrant center
Google Translate apparently works on bureaucratic jargon, too!
The world’s leading search engine appeared Tuesday to have rejected Mayor Eric Adams’ official name for his controversial migrant processing center on Randall’s Island in favor of something a bit more descriptive.
Instead of labeling the site a “Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Center,” Google Maps simply called it what it is: “Adams Tent City.”
The term popped up next to the red locator pin for the Icahn Stadium parking lot, where City Hall planned to unveil the new facility Tuesday afternoon.
Three giant white tents have been set up at the site, which is slated to temporarily house as many as 500 migrants before they enter the city’s overloaded shelter system.
Two tents are filled with rows of cots, while the third is outfitted with tables and chairs.
There are also six portable shower units, six portable bathroom units and a laundry.
It’s unclear whether the “Adams Tent City” label was chosen by the search giant or a user who chose to pin the location, using instructions available on Google Maps for how to “Add a missing place” or “Add your business.”
In 2019, controversy erupted over a Google Maps label for the “Philadelphia Badlands” near the Fairhill neighborhood in North Philadelphia, with one critic calling it “a racist new twist.”
The name quickly disappeared from the map after generating outrage online.
Also in 2019, the Wall Street Journal reported that millions of business listings on Google Maps were fake despite Google’s efforts to prevent them.
At the time, Google Maps director Ethan Russell said the company was in “an arms race with an extremely motivated group of scammers who are constantly on the lookout to beat the defenses we build.”
An online compilation of “funny things on google maps” lists markers for “rich person house,” “pirate ship” and “hole in china.”
They all appear to have been removed since the tally, which has been viewed more than 3 million times, was published on the site in 2017.
After being contacted by The Post — and more than three hours following the publication of this report — a Google spokesperson said in a Tuesday evening email: “We’re aware of the situation and have removed the listing.”
City Hall didn’t return a request for comment.
