MANHATTAN, N.Y. (PIX11) — New York City officially opened a new processing center at the old Roosevelt Hotel for all migrants arriving in the city.

It is the latest development in the ongoing scramble to find places to put the tens of thousands of migrants still in New York City’s care after they were bused up from the southern border.

Instead of out the Port Authority Bus Terminal, all buses will be directed to drop off at the hotel.

The Roosevelt Hotel lobby and other large spaces will be used to process and offer services to arriving migrants. Most will be sent to other locations, but up to 850 families will stay in rooms being set up in the actual hotel.

“There is a lot of crime. There is no work. There’s no job. There’s no security,” a migrant from Ecuador said, explaining what inspired her make the perilous trip to the United States. “This country is full of opportunities. I do not always want the government to help me.”

The migrant said she is grateful for the hotel and help, but she really just wants a job so she can get her own apartment.

New York City is currently caring for more than 41,000 migrants across 150 sites, costing the city billions of dollars.

Mayor Eric Adams and others have been pleading for expedited work permits for asylum seekers while they await their hearings, which could take years.

A bus arrived at the hotel soon after PIX11 News did to move migrants from the processing center to other shelters around New York City. Watching it all of this unfold, it became clear just how much the migrant crisis has divided the city.

“What about the people born and raised here that don’t have any help. I’ve been homeless eight years,” said Dennis Bardel.

Bardel came by the Roosevelt, looking to get some of the food, legal help and placement services asylum seekers are getting. He was told to go to one of the city’s large men’s shelters.

“It’s a joke. No matter where I go for help, I can’t get no help,” said Bardel.

Dino Redzic owns Uncle Paul’s Pizza around the corner from the Roosevelt. He plans on dropping off free pizza for the migrants for dinner.

As a business owner, Redzic agrees work permits will help the city’s scramble to find housing, the business community and the migrants themselves.

“The city needs them,” Redzic said. “We really need entry-level positions. I myself need at least eight, and I’m sure everyone else in the city does the same.”