Mayor Adams celebrated the closure of the migrant mega-shelter on the Roosevelt Lodge after it shuttered its doorways final month.
The lodge, which closed in 2020 through the pandemic and opened as a shelter in Might 2023, served as the primary entrance level for migrants coming into the town through the peak of the disaster. Photos from the skin of the lodge, the place a whole lot of migrants waited on the streets for shelter, have been emblematic of the dimensions of the problem throughout that point. Deportations and a big discount in border crossings led to a lower in immigrants coming to the town.
“This is going to be one of the most important chapters in our books,” stated Adams, who has been sharply criticized for his willingness to collaborate with President Trump, together with on immigration enforcement. He added that “237,000 migrants and asylum seekers went through our system. Roosevelt Hotel was a symbol of that.”
An empty hallway is pictured within the Roosevelt Lodge Wednesday, July 2, 2025 in Manhattan, New York. (Barry Williams/ New York Every day Information)
The Trump administration has repeatedly slammed the lodge in latest months, falsely claiming it to be a hotbed of crime and the native base of Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua — a characterization the Adams administration has pushed again towards in court docket papers.
“The work that this city did to support so many thousands of families was amazing, and we’re proud of the part that we played,” stated Molly Schaeffer, director of the town’s Workplace of Asylum Seeker Operations.
Migrants sleeping exterior the Roosevelt Lodge in Midtown Manhattan July 31, 2023, whereas the reduction middle reached its capability. (Luiz C. Ribeiro for New York Every day Information)
Anne Williams-Isom, who resigned from the Adams administration partly over considerations in regards to the mayor’s alignment with Trump on immigration, additionally spoke on the press convention.
“We did it with the best that we had, with the care that we had, and I couldn’t be more proud,” she stated.
Mayor Eric Adams speaks on the Roosevelt Lodge Wednesday, July 2, 2025 in Manhattan, New York. (Barry Williams/ New York Every day Information)
Initially Revealed: July 2, 2025 at 5:35 PM EDT
