After heavy criticism US cancels $220 million Pakistan owned migrant hotel in New York

A few months after intense backlash from Republican leader Vivek Ramaswamy as well the American public, New York City is now terminating its $220 million lease agreement with the Pakistan owned Roosevelt Hotel, which had been operating as a shelter for migrants.

Facing pressure from the Republican party and the federal government, Mayor Eric Adams, announced the closure of the hotel. He confirmed the move from his social media handle. “Today, we announced we will begin the process of closing down The Roosevelt Hotel’s Asylum Arrival Center and Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Center.” he wrote.

Earlier Vivek Ramaswamy had questioned the bizarre allocation of taxpayer funds for the hotel. Ramaswamy had posted on X (formerly Twitter), expressing outrage at the arrangement. He argued that taxpayers in New York City are effectively paying a foreign government to house illegal migrants on American soil, calling the situation “nuts.”

The Roosevelt Hotel, a 19-storey hotel had been rented by New York City to provide shelter to illegal immigrants. It has over 1,200 rooms. The hotel was shut down for renovation, before it was rented out by New York City. A once-iconic property in the heart of Manhattan, it has long struggled with occupancy issues and was in need of renovations before the deal. The decision to rent it for housing migrants had come amid an ongoing migrant crisis in the US, with cities grappling with how to accommodate the growing number of refugees.

The historic Manhattan hotel repurposed as an emergency shelter reportedly accommodated tens of thousands of migrants at an estimated cost of $200 per night. The city has experienced a notable decrease in weekly migrant arrivals with numbers falling from 4,000 at the peak of the crisis in 2023 to around 350 currently.

Mayor Adams attributed the closure to the administration’s effective emergency response and policy measures, emphasizing that it would save millions in taxpayer dollars. The deal with the Pakistani government, which effectively turned the historic Manhattan hotel into a migrant shelter had drawn sharp criticism from various quarters including Republican leaders and conservative commentators.

In 2023, the Pakistan government leased the Roosevelt Hotel, owned by Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), to the New York City Administration for three years in exchange for USD 220 million, according to a report by Dawn. At the time, Khawaja Saad Rafique, Pakistan’s Federal Minister for Railways and Aviation, confirmed that a contract had been signed between the government and the NYC administration. He further stated that the hotel will be given back to Pakistan after the lease period is over. “The lease agreement is expected to generate revenues to the tune of around USD 220 million for the Pakistan government,” Rafique had stated in 2024.