Exclusive behind-the-scenes look inside NYC's iconic Roosevelt Hotel repurposed into migrant processing hub
'The Sanctuary Trap' is streaming now on Fox Nation
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}New Yorkers have come face-to-face with an unpleasant truth – the migrant crisis has arrived in the Big Apple and even Democratic Mayor Eric Adams is warning, unless something changes, people could soon be "sleeping on the streets."
Fashionable Madison Avenue's Roosevelt Hotel, now a haven for migrants, is filled with families who crossed the southern border and later found themselves inside what was once a symbol of sophistication.
After shutting down during the COVID-19 pandemic, it became a processing hub for migrants and now symbolizes "a city on the brink."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}FOX 5 "Good Day New York's" Rosanna Scotto, taking viewers inside the Manhattan icon for an exclusive tour for the Fox Nation special "The Sanctuary Trap," says the city's attempt to solve one problem – the overflow of newcomers – created new ones.
Migrants are seen sleeping outside the Roosevelt Hotel in Midtown Manhattan on July 31, 2023. (Luiz C. Ribeiro/New York Daily News/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
"We've registered more than 70,000 asylum seekers since we opened this site in May this past year," Dr. Ted Long, a health professional who serves as the head of New York's humanitarian relief centers, told Scotto in the Fox Nation special.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}All asylum seekers coming into New York City enter through the hotel's revolving doors and make their way through the building as they await processing.
This "new Ellis Island," as some have called it, hardly resembles its previous self.
"The ballroom where Guy Lombardo's band used to play has been converted to a medical triage center," Scotto said. Behind a wall captured on video, professionals screened migrants for depression.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}ASYLUM SEEKERS SLEEP ON NEW YORK CITY SIDEWALK WITH MANHATTAN'S ROOSEVELT HOTEL AT FULL CAPACITY
"Are you finding that most of the migrants that come here don't have all the vaccines that are required for the rest of us?" Scotto asked Long.
Long confirmed there's a "huge need" for vaccines.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}An improvised supply room sits across from the lobby, its shelves full of baby food, diapers, hygiene kits and other items.
"The Roosevelt has over 1000 rooms, but right now, there's no vacancy," Scotto said.
Long said the humanitarian center currently contains 3,000 people, all families with children.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Photos taken from The New York Post showcase that abundance, capturing migrants sleeping on the floor or lounging in chairs inside the building.
Meanwhile, Mayor Adams is running out of options. Sitting down with Scotto, he warned that the city is "out of room."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Our hearts are endless, but our resources are not," he said.
Adams currently has no plans to shut down the Roosevelt Hotel as an intake center "as long as the laws stay the way they are."
"People are allowed to come to the city, and there's nothing I can do. I must have an intake center," he said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}To watch the exclusive tour inside New York City's iconic Roosevelt Hotel and to learn why Mayor Eric Adams says his hands are tied, sign up for Fox Nation and begin streaming "The Sanctuary Trap" today.