New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced Monday that the city will shut down the Roosevelt Hotel, which became the symbol for the city's migrant crisis after it was converted into a shelter for illegals.
The Manhattan hotel will cease migrant operations by June, the New York Post reported. It's one of 53 migrant shelters Adams said he plans to close as the number of illegal migrants arriving in the city continues to slow amid President Donald Trump's crackdown on illegal immigration.
About 75% of the 232,000 illegals who descended on New York were processed through the century-old Roosevelt since its opening as a shelter in May 2023, Adams said.
"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 the video statement Monday.
Adams said that while an average of 4,000 illegals were arriving each week during the "height of the international asylum seeker crisis," the number has dropped to about 350 in recent months. Weekly arrivals to the city's shelter system have dropped 153% since April.
"The fact that, within a span of a year, we are closing 53 sites and shuttering all of our tent-based facilities shows both our continued progress and our ability, when faced with unprecedented challenges, to do what no other city can," Adams said.
The Roosevelt is housing 2,852 migrants, part of the less than 45,000 who remain in the city's care, The New York Times reported.
Adams' announcement came days after the Trump administration cited the shelter in its clawback of $80 million in federal funds over what it said was a hub of for the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua. The city filed suit on Friday.
"FEMA was funding the Roosevelt Hotel that serves as a Tren de Aragua base of operations and was used to house Laken Riley's killer. There will not be a single penny spent that goes against the interest and safety of the American people," a Homeland Security spokesperson said in part.
The Roosevelt closed its doors as a hotel in December 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic, which ravaged the city's touring industry. The city struck a deal with the owners, Pakistan International Airlines, to reopen it as a shelter in May 2023, according to the Times.
Hundreds of illegal migrants slept outside the Roosevelt in July 2023 when the shelter ran out of beds.