Mayor Eric Adams said 53 other emergency shelter sites would be closed by June.
NEW YORK CITY—New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced on Monday the closure of a shelter and processing center for illegal immigrants at the Roosevelt Hotel in midtown Manhattan. The shutdown will likely take place before June.
The hotel has served as the Asylum Seeker Arrival Center and Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Center since May 2023 and will cease operations as part of the continuing efforts by the mayor’s team to wind down operations to shelter the dwindling number of arrivals seeking assistance, according to a statement from the mayor’s office.
The centers have provided support services such as legal assistance, medical care, reconnection services, and humanitarian relief.
The Roosevelt Hotel, which has about 1,000 rooms, has processed 173,000 registrations of the city’s 232,000 illegal immigrants that have entered the city since 2022, the statement said.
It said the hotel’s assistance programs for illegal immigrants first opened in 2023 when the city was averaging about 4,000 arrivals each week. The number has since dropped to about 350 a week.
“While we’re not done caring for those who come into our care, today marks another milestone in demonstrating the immense progress we have achieved in turning the corner on an unprecedented international humanitarian effort,” said Adams in a video posted to his X account.
The mayor said that 53 other emergency shelter sites would be closed by June. He spoke of how these accomplishments were made possible by “the successful strategies we put in place here in New York City, and because of policies we advocated for at the border.”
According to the mayor’s office, the city’s actions have resulted in 24,000 fewer illegal immigrants in its care. That’s down from the high of 69,000 in January 2024 to the current 45,000.
The city has expanded work authorization and pathways to self-sufficiency for the asylum seekers; 84 percent of adults eligible for work authorization had received or applied for it through the city’s system, the statement said.
