New York City is set to close a controversial migrant shelter at the Roosevelt Hotel

Mayor Eric Adams said this week that the Roosevelt Hotel and more than 50 other migrant shelters are no longer needed and will shut by June. Arrivals have plummeted in the last seven months, and the city has ushered many migrants to other housing and other communities, he said.

The closure also comes as the Trump administration takes a hard line on immigration and criticizes New York City's hotel shelters and the Roosevelt in particular. Adams' handling of immigration has come under close scrutiny from fellow New York politicians and the public since the Department of Justice cited the need for Adams' cooperation on immigration enforcement as a reason for its request to drop criminal bribery charges against the Democratic mayor. Adams has pleaded not guilty in the case.

How did the Roosevelt Hotel become a migrant shelter?

A few blocks from Grand Central Terminal, the Roosevelt Hotel opened in 1924. It was long past its heyday by the time it shut down amid the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

Three years later, New York City — which unlike other cities is legally obligated to provide temporary housing to any homeless person who asks — was straining to keep up with 4,000 migrant arrivals per week, according to city statistics. After opening many other emergency shelters in hotels and other spaces, the city leased the Roosevelt in May 2023 from its longtime owner, Pakistan's government-owned airline.

The hotel became a magnet for controversy

The hotel was designated as an arrival center for newcomers to sign up for services, as well as a shelter for families with children; families can stay for up to 60 days without reapplying.

Inquiries were sent to city spokespeople Tuesday about how many people are staying there, and the cost over time. Adams has said the city spent billions of dollars on the over 232,000 migrants who have shown up since spring 2022.

With its Midtown Manhattan location, the Roosevelt became a highly visible example of what city officials called a migrant crisis. In summer 2023, some people slept on the street outside the hotel, waiting for a bed.

This winter, federal officials have complained that the Roosevelt has become a gang hotbed, citing reporting by New York Post. The Federal Emergency Management Agency pointed to those claims to justify taking back $80 million it had awarded the city to reimburse the costs.

In a lawsuit over the vanished funding, the city called the news reports “unsubstantiated.” FEMA officials visited the hotel in September and didn't report any alleged gang doings, the lawsuit said.

Why is the Roosevelt Hotel shelter closing?

Migrant arrivals have dropped to an average of about 350 a week in the city, and the migrant shelter population has dropped from 69,000 about a year ago to under 45,000 now, Adams said Monday.

He attributed the decline partly to tighter federal immigration policy during the end of the Biden administration and the start of President Donald Trump's second term, and partly to the city's own initiatives, such as limiting shelter stays and buying over 52,000 travel tickets for migrants interested in moving on.

What will happen to the people and services there?

Adams said those whose allotted shelter time runs into April or May will have a place to stay, at the Roosevelt or elsewhere. As for new arrivals, he pledged the city would continue to have “some form of intake” to get people on their feet.

But the Legal Aid Society and the Coalition for the Homeless said they're worried that the city won't be able to handle the need.

What will happen to the Roosevelt Hotel building?

That remains to be seen. A message seeking comment was sent Tuesday to a real estate company that may be working with the owners on next steps.

Jennifer Peltz