Three years later, New York City — which unlike other cities is legally obligated to provide temporary housing to any homeless person who asks — was straining to keep up with 4,000 migrant arrivals per week, according to city statistics.
The closure also comes as the Trump administration takes a hard line on immigration and criticizes New York City's hotel shelters and the Roosevelt in particular.
Migrant arrivals have dropped to an average of about 350 a week in the city, and the migrant shelter population has dropped from 69,000 about a year ago to under 45,000 now, Adams said Monday.
He attributed the decline partly to tighter federal immigration policy during the end of the Biden administration and the start of President Donald Trump's second term, and partly to the city's own initiatives, such as limiting shelter stays and buying over 52,000 travel tickets for migrants interested in moving on.
Adams' handling of immigration has come under close scrutiny from fellow New York politicians and the public since the Department of Justice cited the need for Adams' cooperation on immigration enforcement as a reason for its request to drop criminal bribery charges against the Democratic mayor.
