- New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced the closure of Roosevelt Hotel as a migrant center. The hotel provided migrants with food and medical care for the past two years.
- Adams said the decision will save taxpayers millions of dollars.
- 53 migrant sites will be phased out by June.
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New York City is adding the Roosevelt Hotel to the dozens of migrant shelters closing in the coming months. The hotel functioned as the city’s primary migrant intake center for the past two years, becoming a symbol of the migrant crisis.
It provided thousands of migrants with food, medical care, temporary lodging, and legal assistance.
According to the city, the majority of the 232,000 migrants who have arrived since Spring 2022 were registered at the Roosevelt Hotel.
What did Mayor Adams say about the decision?
New York City Mayor Eric Adams called the closure a significant milestone in the city’s ongoing asylum seeker crisis.
“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,” Adams said in a statement Monday, Feb. 24.
What happened with Roosevelt Hotel and FEMA funds?
Earlier in February 2025, the Trump administration’s concerns over gang and criminal activity at the Roosevelt Hotel led to it taking back $80 million in FEMA funds the city had received to help with the asylum seeker crisis.
“There will not be a single penny spent that goes against the interest and safety of the American people,” Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said.
The city filed a lawsuit Friday, Feb. 21 saying those concerns are unfounded calling for the funds to be returned.
There are currently fewer than 45,000 migrants in New York city’s care, down from 69,000 in January of 2024.
City officials say a total of 53 migrant sites will be phased out by June.
