NEW YORK (Reuters) – Dozens of men from countries such as Venezuela, Mali, and Senegal sat on a dirty New York City sidewalk outside a Manhattan hotel on Tuesday, awaiting asylum processing. They were seen sitting with their knees to their chests, highlighting the challenges faced by thousands of migrants in New York.
Mayor Eric Adams acknowledged the city’s strained resources during a press conference on Monday, stating, “There is no more room.” The mayor’s office revealed that since 2022, the city has opened over 190 emergency shelters and 12 large-scale relief centers. Additionally, two more relief centers are planned to be established in the coming weeks.
The Roosevelt Hotel has replaced the Port Authority Bus Terminal as the processing hub for newly arrived migrants. At this location, food, water, and transportation to shelters are supposed to be provided for single men. However, only families are currently being sheltered at the hotel.
Hamid, a 20-year-old Mauritanian asylum seeker, shared his plight after sleeping on the sidewalk for several days. He expressed exhaustion, hunger, and thirst, emphasizing that returning to his home country is not an option due to threats of death. The U.S. State Department’s recent travel advisory for Mauritania highlighted the presence of violent crime and limited resources within the country’s police force.
New York state is legally obligated to provide shelter for those without homes, as decreed in a long-standing consent decree resulting from a class-action lawsuit. As the influx of migrants continues, various strategies such as tents and relocation to other parts of the state have been attempted to accommodate them.
Murad Awadeh, the executive director of the New York Immigrant Coalition, emphasized the need for better planning and moving away from an emergency response system. Awadeh called for investments in infrastructure to support newly arrived migrants and proposed issuing vouchers for those who have been waiting the longest, in order to help them transition out of the shelter system.
Dino Redzic, the owner of Uncle Paul’s Pizza and Cafe located next to the Roosevelt Hotel, generously provides pizza to the men on a daily basis. However, Redzic questioned the effectiveness of Mayor Adams’ policies, stating, “Thirty one years ago, I was in their shoes. To help makes me feel good, but to watch this here, I just don’t understand why this was so organized in the beginning but is now a broken system.”
(Reporting by Rachel Nostrant; editing by Donna Bryson and Aurora Ellis)
Credit: The Star : News Feed
