MIDTOWN, Manhattan (PIX11) — New York City is still scrambling to deal with the hundreds of asylum seekers who continue to arrive in the city on buses most days.
The latest plan from Mayor Eric Adams’s office is to revive a historic hotel. The Roosevelt Hotel will be the city’s ninth emergency relief center, but the Adams Administration said it would be so much more than that. It intends to be a one-stop-shopping for services for arriving asylum seekers.
The hotel shuttered during the pandemic and will reopen under city control.
The Roosevelt will also act as a centralized intake center where arriving migrants can get legal, medical, and other services.
Nothing is happening yet; some city contractors are coming and going, and some security already seems a little stressed.
They are preparing for later in the week when about 175 rooms for families and children open, with a capacity to add 850 in total soon after.
More than 4,200 migrants arrived in the city last week alone. While border crossings were down over the weekend, even following the expiration of immigration restriction known as Title 42, it is unclear if New York will see fewer settlers awaiting the asylum process.
Christine Quinn heads WIN, the largest provider of shelter to families and children in the city. Her organization is pushing to abolish New York City’s 90-day rule, which says people in the shelter must stay there for 90 days before they can even begin working with city services to find a more permanent housing solution.
Quinn said a new study shows it costs thousands of dollars per family to keep them in shelters and hotels for three months. It also slows down the process of freeing shelter space during the influx of migrants.
“There rarely is a governmental step that can help people in a humanitarian way, that can save money, and can address an international crisis,” Quinn said. “This is that step.”
Meanwhile, Gov. Kathy Hochul has yet to hear back from the Biden administration about a letter she sent Friday asking for DOD resources and help setting up a migrant center at Floyd Bennett Field.
“The answer needs to be yes, and it won’t happen overnight; there’s a lot involved, but the city is at a breaking point, and we have no other options,” Hochul said.
A total of five new schools — three in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, another in Coney Island, Brooklyn, and one in Staten Island –are being used as shelters for migrants, PIX11 News has confirmed.
