NYC leaders plead with Biden administration for help with asylum seeker crisis as dozens sleep outside Roosevelt Hotel

By ZINNIA MALDONADO, JESSICA MOORE

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    NEW YORK CITY (WCBS) — Dozens of asylum seekers looking for a place to stay slept on the sidewalk outside The Roosevelt Hotel overnight.

The city says it continues to struggle to handle the arriving asylum seekers, and housing is just one of many issues.

CBS New York’s Zinnia Maldonado arrived at around 3 a.m. on Monday and found about three dozen people asleep outside along 45th Street and Vanderbilt Avenue.

Mayor Eric Adams says so far the city has taken in 93,000 asylum seekers since the spring of 2022. To visualize that, it’s enough people to fill the seats of Madison Square Garden nearly five times.

The tension seen over the weekend seems to have turned into exhausted sadness, as dozens continue to wait for shelter. On Monday, there were growing calls for Washington to intervene in what’s being called the worst humanitarian crisis New York City has ever seen.

Weary, tired, and desperate for a place to sleep inside, dozens continue to camp outside the Roosevelt, as the city’s largest intake center is now completely full.

City workers handed out sandwiches to the single men who have been camping out.

The city says services at the Roosevelt are focused on placing children and families. Many are put on charter buses and sent to shelters upstate, while single adults are given a ticket and told to wait outside.

One nearby business owner said the situation is untenable.

“This is the heart of New York City. JP Morgan is here. Everybody is investing in buildings and they brought the processing center in the middle of the city? It makes no sense,” said Demitris Nakos, owner of Ammos Greek Restaurant.

The mayor says without federal help, the city will break under the strain.

“It’s not going to get any better. From this moment on is downhill. There is no more room,” Adams said.

Elected leaders rallied at City Hall Park on Monday, begging President Joe Biden to help by declaring a state of emergency and expediting work authorization for asylum seekers, many of whom are desperate to work but legally unable to do so.

“New York City cannot and should not solve a national crisis on its own. It’s time for the federal government to step up and do its job,” said state Sen. Joe Addabbo, a Democrat representing Queens.

“This is an incredible citywide coalition, and not only 60 elected officials, but also faith leaders, unions, employers, migrants themselves and the people that care for the migrants in the shelters. Literally the whole city is coming together to ask President Biden for his urgent action,” said Assemblywoman Jenifer Rajkumar.

“I was just at The Roosevelt Hotel, myself, and I spoke to migrant families, and they all said that they want to work immediately. That’s why we need the president to expedite their work permits,” she added. “There are plans for shelters, new shelters all across New York City. New York City is at a breaking point. We need the federal government to step in and help us manage this crisis.”

She said following the rally, Assembly leaders would continue to reach out to the Biden administration, applying pressure for a plan of action the city desperately needs.

The mayor’s office calls it a heartbreaking situation and said it is doing the best it can under the circumstances. City Hall expects another 4,000 asylum seekers to arrive in the city by the end of the week.

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