NEW YORK (1010 WINS) – New York City will shut down the Roosevelt Hotel asylum seeker shelter that has become a symbol of the city’s years-long migrant crisis, Mayor Eric Adams said Monday.
The hotel, located on East 45th Street in Midtown, is expected to wind down migrant services in the coming months. An exact closure date hasn’t been announced, but the shelter will reportedly close by June.
In a video message posted Monday, Adams said the closure is due to “the successful strategies we put in place here in New York City and because of policies we advocated for at the border.”
At the height of the crisis, some 4,000 migrants were arriving in the city each week. The number has dwindled to around 350 people, Adams said.
“Now, thanks to our policies, we’re down to an average of just 350 new arrivals each week,” the mayor said. “And while we’re not done carrying for those who came into our care, today marks another milestone in demonstrating the immense progress we have achieved in turning the corner on the unprecedented international humanitarian effort.”
The hotel has also served as the main arrival center for migrants before they were dispersed to shelters across the city, supporting "hundreds of thousands" of migrants since opening in May 2023, officials said. The intake functions of the hotel will be transferred to other areas within the system.
The city has been steadily closing shelters in recent months—including large tent sites at Floyd Bennett Field and Randalls Island—and expects to have closed more than 50 shelters citywide by this June.
There are currently less than 45,000 migrants receiving city shelter services, down from a high of 69,000 in January 2024, according to City Hall.
More than 232,000 migrants have sought services in the city since the spring of 2022, City Hall said—a crisis that has cost the city at least $7 billion. Last week, Adams sued the Trump administration to recoup $80 million in previously approved funds by the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency.
City Hall said 84% of eligible adults in the city's care have applied for work authorization thanks to the Adams administration's efforts. The city has purchased 53,200 tickets to help migrants travel to their preferred destinations outside the city in an effort to reduce the burden on taxpayers.