Migrant arrival center at NYC's storied Roosevelt Hotel closes for good Tuesday
New York City is closing its largest migrant arrival center at the storied Roosevelt Hotel in Manhattan after it opened during the height of the crisis.
Since then, more than 150,000 asylum seekers from 160 countries, speaking 60 languages, have come through the landmark Manhattan hotel's doors, according to NYC Health + Hospitals Senior Vice President Dr. Ted Long.
The migrant intake center will officially shut down early Tuesday morning.
Roosevelt Hotel migrant shelter shutting down
The Roosevelt Hotel became a symbol of the migrant crisis in New York City months after it started housing asylum seekers in May 2023.
Images of migrants lining the sidewalks outside the century-old hotel waiting for beds to open up are etched in the city's history, after dozens slept on the street outside when told the shelter reached capacity
"That moment in particular was one of those moments where we just turned around and said we just couldn't open sites fast enough," said Molly Schaeffer, executive director of the Mayor's Office of Asylum Seeker Operations.
Migrants sit in a queue outside of The Roosevelt Hotel that is being used by the city as temporary housing, Monday, July 31, 2023, in New York.
John Minchillo / AP
On Monday, the center's last full day in operation, crews packed up furniture and the remaining asylum seekers there continued receiving services, from health screenings to job assistance.
"When you first come in here, we screen everybody for communicable diseases, that includes a full-body skin exam for measles, chickenpox," Long said.
"We still have asylum seekers coming in every week. But we're in a much difference place than we were when we had to open this site," Schaeffer said. "Some of our food venders that worked in these sites are hiring the same asylum seekers that used to live in these sites."
A milestone in the crisis, but not the end
Mayor Eric Adams said the city has spent $7 billion to house, feed and provide services to migrants since 2022. In February, he announced a plan to close 53 shelters by June.
According to the city, 237,000 asylum seekers have arrived since April 2022, including 4,000 weekly arrivals at the height of the crisis. The number of arrivals now is down to about 100 per week.
The Roosevelt housed and helped 155,000 asylum seekers, including about 3,000 per day, since it opened as a shelter.
City officials and migrant advocates said closing the Roosevelt is a milestone, but not the end of their mission.
People walk in and out of The Roosevelt Hotel in New York, Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025.
Seth Wenig / AP
"Now that the Roosevelt Hotel is closing, it just means that more personnel at other shelters need to be connected with grassroots organizations so that we could continue to provide the services and the help that the people need," advocate Power Malu said.
"The migrant crisis is not over. It is absolutely just in a different phase of it. We still have a shelter capacity crisis in New York City," Schaeffer said.
City officials said they finally opened the shelter's doors to reporters because they wanted to show New Yorkers how the crisis was handled and where their tax dollars went before closing it down. They said they were able to help 80% of the migrants who entered through it with housing and work authorization.
The hotel closes at 7 a.m. Tuesday. Until then, staff there is still helping migrants find other housing and services.
After it closes, the migrants may go to any Department of Homeless Services shelter, which was protocol before the surge in arrivals.
contributed to this report.
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