NEW YORK, N.Y. — The Roosevelt Hotel in midtown Manhattan, a historic, over 100-year-old Big Apple institution, is being used to harbor hundreds of migrants as the home base for New York City’s migrant processing operation.
Democratic New York Mayor Eric Adams announced in February that the hotel would be closed by June. The hotel appears to still be actively involved in receiving and processing migrants, the Daily Caller recently observed.
Over 60 people streamed in and out of the building’s north and south side entrances Friday afternoon, not counting the numerous staff members who poured out of an associate’s entrance on the building’s east side, the Caller found.
Families queue in line at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York’s southside entrance. 6/6/2025. Daily Caller/Robert McGreevy
Adams claimed in his announcement that he would reroute the intake services for migrants to other areas “alongside the planned closures of 53 other emergency shelter sites by June.” Some residents who spoke with the Caller indicated they didn’t know where they would go after the hotel closes — but there was no indication they’d be leaving the U.S.
The Daily Caller contacted DHS to inquire about why immigration raids haven’t been conducted on this migrant hotspot, but did not get an answer.
There are some indications the operations are winding down.
One temporary resident of the Roosevelt Hotel, who identified himself as Jose from Ecuador, said the hotel staff informed him he would have to leave by June 24.
“I’m really not sure,” he told the Daily Caller when asked where he would go next.
The hotel, which is owned by the government of Pakistan, is closed to the public. When attempting to enter, one of the hotel’s many security guards stopped the Daily Caller and explained nobody gets in without a pass, though numerous families appeared to enter without one.
Security stands guard at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York’s southside entrance. 6/6/2025. Daily Caller/Robert McGreevy
Security stands guard at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York’s northside entrance. 6/6/2025. Daily Caller/Robert McGreevy
Over 1,800 migrants still reportedly lived in the hotel as of May, according to the New York Post.
Some residents expressed to the Daily Caller their fear of potential gang activity stemming from the hotel. (RELATED: ‘I Don’t Really Want Them Here’: Scott Jennings Angers CNN Panelists By Defending Trump’s Mass Arrests Of Gang Members)
The notorious Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua is reportedly recruiting and operating from the hotel, police sources told the New York Post.
A mob of migrants who ganged up on and attacked two New York Police Department (NYPD) officers in January 2024 included Alexander Ayala, whose last known address was The Roosevelt, according to the Post.
While New York has been a hot spot for migrant hotels, with 157 hotels being used to house migrants in New York City alone, according to the comptroller, the practice has been utilized across the country.
In Chicago, a 2023 migrant influx forced the city to place migrants in hotels, according to CBS News. State funding disbursed by Democratic Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker to the tune of $160 million went to costs involved with housing the migrants, along with an additional $478 the state budget had already allotted for migrant services between 2023 and 2024, CBS reported.
In Massachusetts, the state commission instructed shelters to cut down costs associated with migrants after a government report%20%E2%80%93%20see%20Figure%203.) found that the costs could rise above $1 billion for 2025. The same report found that over 50 percent of migrant families had been sheltered in hotels or motels across the state.
In 2023, the executive of Orange County, New York, Steve Neuhaus, sued two hotels in Newburgh, New York, for violating his executive order barring them from accepting migrants or asylum seekers.
