Boy, 11, Dies After Being Found Unconscious In UWS Migrant Shelter: PD

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY - An 11-year-old boy died Monday after he was found unresponsive at a residence hall-turned-migrant shelter on the Upper West Side, authorities said.

The boy was found about 5 p.m. in the lobby of the Stratford Arms Hotel shelter at 117 West 70th St., police sources told Patch.

Medics rushed him to Mount Sinai West where he was later pronounced dead, police said, adding they believe the death to be a suicide.

The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner is working to determine the cause of death and the investigation remains ongoing.

City officials announced the conversion of the former American Musical and Dramatic Academy student residence building in June. The Stratford Arms shelter, which serves adult families and single women, opened its doors on June 13, Patch previously reported.

Operated by NYC Health + Hospitals, the West 70th Street space provides about 400 asylum seekers with shelter, food, medical care, case work services and a range of settlement options.

The Upper West Side has seen multiple emergency housing options open for asylum seekers in recent months, including another residence hall on West 88th Street and in the Belnord Hotel on West 87th Street.

30 families were also sent to live in an Upper West Side hotel on Central Park West in August.

Nearly 143,000 asylum seekers have come through the Big Apple since last spring, with 66,000 migrants currently in the city’s care. Read more: 20% Cut To NYC Migrant Spending Needed To Avoid 'Serious Fiscal Harm

City hall officials and Mayor Eric Adams continue to attribute much of the city's financial strife to spending on services for asylum seekers, reporting an unexpected $11 billion in added expenditures over the next two fiscal years.

But not everyone is in agreement with Adams' attribution.

Last month, New York City Comptroller Brad Lander said he found the mayor's characterization of recent asylum seekers as untrue and unfair when it comes to asylum seekers' burden on the city budget.

"City Hall should stop suggesting that asylum seekers are the reason for imposing severe cuts when they are only contributing to a portion of these budget gaps, much of which already existed," Lander said.