New York City to turn historic Roosevelt Hotel into asylum-seeker center as migrants overload the area

New York City said it will open its first asylum-seeker arrival center to supplement its existing overflowing hotels in the city.

As hundreds of asylum-seekers and illegal immigrants have arrived daily, New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced in a press release that the historic Roosevelt Hotel will become a “centralized intake center for all arriving asylum-seekers." The mayor said the center would provide migrants with "access to a range of legal, medical, and reconnection services, as well as placement, if needed, in a shelter or humanitarian relief center," according to CNN.

The announcement came about a week after the city began sending migrants to different counties, sparking declarations of emergency and executive orders to protect smaller districts against having to house the influx of people.

Rockland County and Orange County implemented executive orders barring hotels, motels, and other facilities from allowing short-term rentals for migrants or asylum-seekers.

The Big Apple's new welcome center at the Roosevelt, which was closed after nearly 100 years during COVID-19 lockdowns, hopes to address the growing number of emergency shelters and migrant arrivals. According to CNN, the city has processed over 65,000 migrants with 35,000 still unprocessed, with over 140 shelters opened.

Hotels in New York City have suffered from the city's apparent good deeds, however, including the Watson Hotel, whose migrants refused relocation after seeing the shelter they were to be moved to. A "mini riot" was described when authorities were "moving single [adult] males from the Watson Hotel to Brooklyn Cruise Terminal, as [they] transition the hotel to meet the large number of asylum seeking families with children."

As well, "tons" of food have been reportedly thrown out from the Row NYC hotel, a four-star lodging near New York City's famous Times Square. Migrants, apparently upset with the quality of food provided, allegedly have preferred to cook on hot plates in the hotel rooms.

“While this new arrival center and humanitarian relief center will create hundreds of good-paying, union jobs and provide the infrastructure to help asylum-seekers reach their final destination, without federal or state assistance, we will be unable to continue treating new arrivals and those already here with the dignity and care that they deserve,” the mayor said.

Of course, the once-proud sanctuary city has placed blame outwardly, with Adams stating that "New York City has been left without the necessary support to manage this crisis."

“With a vacuum of leadership, we are now being forced to undertake our own decompression strategy,” Mayor Adams added.

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