NYC to shut migrant centre in Roosevelt Hotel

NEW YOUR: New York City will close a processing center and shelter for asylum seekers housed in a former luxury hotel after the number of new arrivals fell to less than 10% of its peak during the migrant crisis, reports Bloomberg.

Mayor Eric Adams said on Monday the city will shut the Roosevelt Hotel in “the coming months.” The announcement follows the closure or planned shutdown of 53 other migrant shelters, including a large tent facility on Randall’s Island, which is expected to shutter at the end of the month.

The Roosevelt Hotel, which ceased operations as a luxury hotel at the end of 2020, served as both the literal and symbolic center of the city’s struggle to manage the influx of new arrivals under its right-to-shelter laws. The hotel sits in a prime midtown Manhattan location, steps from Grand Central Terminal and some of the highest-priced office buildings on Park Avenue.

“While we are not done caring for those who came into our care, today marks another milestone in demonstrating the immense progress we have achieved in turning the corner on the unprecedented international humanitarian effort,” Adams said in a video release.

The number of arrivals in New York has fallen to 350 a week, down from a peak of about 4,000, with the midtown intake center processing the bulk of the city’s migrants. The hotel, which has taken in more than 173,000 migrants since its opening as a shelter in 2023, struggled to keep up with the influx. At times migrants waited outside the facility for days.

The drop in migrants arriving in New York is part of a declining trend in the US due to shifts in immigration policy by the current and previous administrations. In July, a month after the Biden administration tightened US border policy, weekly arrivals into the city dipped below the 1,000 mark.

Numbers have continued to fall since President Donald Trump took office last month. He ended access to CBP One, a popular scheduling app for asylum seekers, and stepped up enforcement at the border. Adams has vowed to support Trump’s crackdown, urging migrants not to come to New York.

New York has cared for more than 232,000 migrants since 2022, according to City Hall. There are currently fewer than 45,000 in the city’s care, down from a high of 69,000 in January 2024.Overall, efforts to reduce the city’s role in caring for migrants is expected to save more than $5 billion over the next three fiscal years, according to projections by City Hall.