New York City to close Roosevelt hotel as shelter for illegal migrants in June

New York City Mayor Eric Adams on Monday announced that the historic Roosevelt Hotel, which has operated as the heart of the illegal immigration crisis that has flooded the city for the last two years, will close as a shelter by June.

The announcement comes after the Trump administration accused the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) of paying New York City $59 million to house illegal migrants in luxurious hotels earlier this month.

The Roosevelt Hotel is one of the city's busiest Asylum Seeker Arrival Centers. More than 173,000 illegal migrants registered at the hotel since the center opened in 2023, accounting for nearly three quarters of the 232,000 migrants who flooded the city since the spring of 2022. 

"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,” Adams said in a statement.

The hotel's Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Center will also close at the same time, Adams said, and the city also plans on closing 53 other emergency shelter sites around Manhattan by June. The hotel still houses 2,852 migrants.

The news comes after the city closed two tent shelters on Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn and on Randall’s Island, according to the New York Times.

"Now, thanks to the sound policy decisions of our team, we are able to announce the closure of this site and help even more asylum seekers take the next steps in their journeys as they envision an even brighter future, while simultaneously saving taxpayers millions of dollars," the mayor said.

The move comes as the city sees a decrease in weekly illegal migrant registrations. Adams said the city saw an average of 4,000 weekly migrant registrations during the height of the border crisis, which has since decreased to an average of 350 registrations a week in recent months, per NBC News.

It is not clear if the hotel will reopen to guests after it stops housing migrants. The hotel stopped accepting regular guests during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.