Migrant centre in landmark New York hotel closes down

Immigrants were seen leaving New York’s landmark Roosevelt Hotel on Tuesday as city officials closed down the arrival centre there.

The once-grand Manhattan hotel had become an emblem of the city’s efforts to manage the migrant crisis.

Officials say more than 150,000 asylum seekers from 160 countries, speaking 60 different languages, have come through its doors since it opened some 2 years ago,

Located blocks from Grand Central Terminal, it served as the first stop for tens of thousands of immigrants arriving in New York seeking free shelter and services.

Images of families lining up and sometimes even sleeping on the street outside the century-old hotel waiting for a bed, are etched in the city’s history.

The mayor’s office says services provided at the Roosevelt, including registration, legal assistance and medical care, are now being offered at other shelter locations.

It announced the city was winding down its operation at the Roosevelt and other migrant shelters in February, as the surge of immigration from the US’ border with Mexico waned.

During the height of the migrant wave, New York saw an average of 4,000 arrivals a week, with that figure down to less than 100 last week.

The drop in numbers is largely due to stricter measures adopted towards the end of the former President Joe Biden's administration, as well incumbent President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.

In recent months, the hotel became a prime target for the Trump administration, which claimed the Roosevelt was a hotbed for gang activity.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency, citing those concerns, clawed back $80 million meant to reimburse the city for costs related to housing migrants.

The future of the storied hotel, which the city had leased from its longtime owners, Pakistan’s government-owned airline, remains unclear.