Migrants arrive in NYC to find no water, bathrooms, or work
NEW YORK CITY - Officials say more than 93,000 asylum seekers have arrived in the city since the spring of last year.
Now migrants are sleeping in the streets.
Roosevelt Hotel reaches full capacity as asylum seekers line up outside in Midtown
As NYC faces growing pressure to expand its shelter system, it relies on vacant hotels to help those that need a place to stay. Now, the Roosevelt Hotel that once welcomed migrants is forced to close it's doors due to capacity.
The mayor cannot be any more direct. Adams says the migrant crisis has hit a breaking point.
The city's largest intake center, the Roosevelt Hotel in Midtown, is filled to capacity and migrants are being forced to sleep on the sidewalk.
Mayor Adams has been pleading with Washington to speed up the work authorization process which would allow migrants to get jobs quicker.
Hey says all he is hearing is crickets. "We need a response from Washington and I have not gotten a yea or nay, and we need it!" Adams said.
Migrant lines may become 'new norm' around NYC
Luis and Bryan were just two of the dozens of asylum seekers outside the Roosevelt Hotel in midtown Manhattan today, hoping to be placed in a shelter somewhere in the city.
Mahmed and Ahmed are from Senegal and Mauritania in Africa.
They communicated with FOX 5 NY's Linda Schmidt using a translation app saying,"Right now no food, no bathroom, no water."
They also told Schmidt, "They’re saying is this is the country of freedom, and they came here to work. He’s been here for 4 days. He just got here today."
City Hall says there are nearly 55,000 migrants in the city.
Murad Awawdeh is the Executive Director of the New York Immigration Coalition. He says the influx which started in the spring of last year is no longer an emergency. It is the norm that needs to be dealt with properly.