New York City is set to shut down its largest migrant arrival center, located at the historic Roosevelt Hotel in Manhattan, after operating since the peak of the crisis.
Since its opening, the landmark hotel has processed over 150,000 asylum seekers from 160 countries, representing 60 different languages, according to Dr. Ted Long, Senior Vice President of NYC Health + Hospitals.
The center is scheduled to officially close early Tuesday morning.
The Roosevelt Hotel emerged as a prominent symbol of New York City’s migrant crisis after it began sheltering asylum seekers in May 2023.
Scenes of migrants camped along the sidewalks outside the iconic, century-old hotel—some sleeping on the street after being turned away due to overcrowding—became defining images of the crisis etched into the city’s recent memory.
Mayor Eric Adams stated that New York City has spent $7 billion on housing, food, and services for migrants since 2022. In February, he unveiled a plan to shutter 53 shelters by June.
Since April 2022, approximately 237,000 asylum seekers have arrived in the city, with a peak of 4,000 new arrivals per week. That number has since dropped to around 100 weekly.
The Roosevelt Hotel has provided shelter and services to 155,000 migrants—serving roughly 3,000 people daily—since it was converted into a shelter.
While officials and migrant advocates acknowledge the closure of the Roosevelt as a significant milestone, they emphasize that the work is far from over.
City officials said they invited reporters into the shelter for the first time to give New Yorkers a transparent look at how the migrant crisis was managed and how public funds were used before the facility closes. According to officials, 80% of the migrants who passed through the shelter received assistance with housing and work authorization.
