New York City closes PIA’s Roosevelt Hotel migrant shelter, ends $220mn lease agreement

New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced on Monday the closure of the Asylum Seeker Arrival Center and the Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Center at the renowned Roosevelt Hotel, owned by Pakistan International Airlines (PIA). The decision marks the end of the city’s $220 million lease agreement with the hotel.

“Today, we announced we will begin the process of closing down The Roosevelt Hotel’s Asylum Arrival Center and Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Center,” said Mayor Eric Adams, in a post of social media platform X.

“Thanks to the successful strategies we implemented in our city and policies we advocated for nationally, we’ll be closing this site that served new arrivals since the height of this crisis in 2023.

“Our city was receiving 4,000 migrants each week during the height of the crisis, and now we’re down to approximately 350 new arrivals each week. Our administration has skillfully managed this crisis, with over 232,000 migrants coming to our city seeking shelter in the last three years.

“The Roosevelt Hotel was where we processed 75% of those who came into our care, and it was critical to our effective operations.

“Because of our sound policy decisions and successful emergency response, we’re able to close this site and help even more migrants take the next step in their journeys — while saving taxpayers millions of dollars,” said Adams.

Roosevelt Hotel, a historic landmark closed in 2020 after sustaining massive financial losses associated with the Covid-19 pandemic.

It became operational in 2023 as a shelter for asylum seekers after the Pakistani government inked a three-year $220 million lease agreement with the New York City government to operate the Roosevelt Hotel.

In February 2024, the government signed a Financial Advisory Services Agreement (FASA) with a consortium led by Jones Lang La Salle Americas Inc (JLL) for joint venture development of the Roosevelt Hotel.

In November 2024, it was learnt that Qatar had explored partnering with Pakistan in managing the Roosevelt Hotel.

The hotel, which opened in 1924, was named after President Theodore Roosevelt. It is located next to the Grand Central Terminal, the city’s central train terminal.