QUITO, Ecuador — The street outside the migrant shelter was lined with the very people New York City Mayor Eric Adams said he wants to dissuade from making the dangerous trek to the US.

But on the third day of his trip last week to Central and South America — where Hizzoner was peddling the message that the Big Apple is out of housing and money to handle any more asylum seekers — his warning hadn’t made it to the desperate block in the South American country’s capital.

Not a single person interviewed by The Post said they were aware of City Hall’s attempt to discourage them from heading north.

It didn’t seem as if Adams’ push would have been effective even if word reached them.

As Adams met with Ecuadorian officials to publicize his message, the migrants talked about fleeing such life-threatening things as Venezuela’s death squads and economic implosions there and in Colombia, luring them to neighboring countries such as Ecuador with the promise of jobs that ultimately don’t exist.

For many, that makes America the likely next stop, despite the long and dangerous trek that requires traversing the Darien Gap — a line of steep mountains and ravines, covered by rain forest and controlled by ruthless gangs.

Tony, a 27-year-old chef, said he fled Venezuela nearly a decade ago after the country’s dictator, Nicholas Maduro, moved to crush the political opposition and sent the economy into a free fall. The United Nations says death squads have killed thousands there, while millions such as Tony opted to flee.

He said he went to Chile before making his way to Ecuador a week ago on the backs of trucks and trailers — along with a friend he met along the way, Samuel — in a bid to find work so that he can send money back to his wife and daughter.

“The situation in Venezuela is so bad we had an obligation to go,” the pair said through a translator. “If we stayed, they would have died.”

Samuel said he dreams of America and becoming a mechanic, despite the deadly risk of getting there.

“It’s really really dangerous but it’s worth it,” he said.

Tony disagreed and said he believes the United States is simply too far.

He becomes visibly upset when he talks about those who he left behind: a daughter who he has not been able to see in eight years, his wife and his mother who is stricken with cancer.

“It’s almost impossible,” Tony said of making it safely across the Darien Gap.

Another refugee from Venezuela, Brayan Pena, said he has been in Quito for just a week and had little luck finding work so far. He is considering making the dangerous journey to America — but still has hope of finding work in Ecuador.

“I have friends who cross the Darien Gap, and they are good, he said. “I don’t know where in the US they are, but friends have told me to come and live with them.

“I could die, but it’s worth it,” he added.

Mother-of-three Beibis Roman sat on the stoop across the shelter with two of her three teenage children, ages 14 and 18, behind her. The family has struggled to find work since arriving from Bogota, Colombia, a few days ago and are now thinking about making the trip northward, too.

Her kids, she said, had been selling boxes of candy to try to earn some money while a third child, her 15-year-old daughter, found work for the day cleaning ovens.

“If we find jobs, we will stay here,” Roman said.

If not, they will try to make the trek to the US together.

“I would go with them, I would never leave them alone,” she said. “No matter the dangers.”

Roman said she’s heard through the local rumor mill that the US government is deporting more people back but was steadfast that her children find a better life.

As with the other migrants, she said she has already left so much behind, including her father, who she feared would have a heart attack if he knew they might attempt to cross the Darien Gap.

The two children sitting behind her kept laughing and talking during the conversation, unable to comprehend the terrible risks that would come along with the trip.

Juan Sebastian Acosta and Manuel Antonio Poloia, both of whom are in their early 20s, were also lured to Quito from Bogota — another stop on the mayor’s trip — with the promise of work, only to be left sleeping on the streets and unable to secure beds in the shelter.

They arrived about five days ago alongside Joaquin Rodriguez, 45, and his son Johan Rodriguez, 25.

“We just want to work,” Antonio Poloia said through a translator. 

And if that means coming to America, they said they might head northward, too.

“Anywhere,” the pair said, laughing. “Anywhere where there’s work.”

Craig McCarthy, The Post’s City Hall bureau chief, traveled to Central and South America as part of the press corps covering the Adams delegation.