City Closing Local Shelter As Migrants Move On

HELL’S KITCHEN, NY – Of the more than 220,000 migrants and asylum seekers who have arrived in New York City since the spring of 2022, about 170,000 have “taken that next step in their journey” – in other words, are no longer under the city’s care – according to Mayor Eric Adams.

As a result, the city has begun to adjust its resources, terminating contracts with some of the hotels that have served as temporary housing for the new arrivals. That includes the closure of the Hotel Merit, a 23-room shelter at 414 West 46th Street near Ninth Avenue in Hell’s Kitchen, according to reports in the New York Post and NY1.

About 150 hotels citywide were serving as temporary shelters as of earlier this month, including seven in Hell’s Kitchen, per W42ST.

There are currently 58,000 migrants in city shelters, down from 69,000 in January 2024. About 117,000 homeless New Yorkers are currently in the city’s shelter system in total (migrants included).

The city has a legal obligation to offer shelter to anyone in need of it, a policy known as the right-to-shelter. In a controversial move, Adams temporarily limited that obligation to 30 days for individuals and 60 days for families (although all were able to reapply), a shift he said was necessary to stabilize the overwhelmed shelter system and protect the city’s finances.

Housing the influx of migrants and asylum seekers has reportedly cost the city more than $6 billion.

Many of the migrants who arrived in the city were bussed here by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who initiated the transfers to so-called “blue cities” nationwide in a divisive political stunt intended to pressure the federal government on immigration policy.