Democrat mayor praises his handling of migrant crisis as controversial new shelter opens

New York City Mayor Eric Adams has lauded his administration’s handling of the Big Apple’s migrant crisis days after a new 2,200-capacity all-male shelter opened in the Bronx.

Adams, in an interview with WNYM/Fox 5 NY, said his administration had done a "great job" catering to the 230,000 migrants who have arrived in the city seeking shelter and other services since the crisis began in 2022.

He said the Monday announcement that the Roosevelt Hotel in Manhattan would be closing marked a significant milestone for the city and that 53 other shelters had been shuttered over the past year. Adams said his administration used "smart policies" to cater to the migrants despite communities not being receptive to having shelters in their neighborhoods. 

New York City Mayor Eric Adams has lauded his administration’s handling of the Big Apple’s migrant crisis days after a new 2,200-capacity all-male shelter opened in the Bronx. (Yuki Iwamura/Bloomberg via Getty Images, left; TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images, right)

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"Show me one who raise[s] their hand and say[s], ‘bring it here,’" Adams, a Democrat, said. "We have to use smart policies. How do we bring people into locations so we could get the services and move them out?"

"When you think about it, out of those 230,000 that we've had, 70% are out of our care on to the next step. Great job on the part of this administration handling the largest humanitarian crisis we've had in this city's history." 

The Roosevelt Hotel, which has around 1,000 rooms, has processed more than 173,000 migrants since its opening in May 2023 and has become a focal point of the city’s migrant crisis over the last two years, since it was the first stop for many border crossers. 

Adams said the hotel necessitated being converted into a shelter since around 4,000 migrants were arriving in the city per week at the height of the crisis. A New York Post source told the outlet that the closure of the hotel-turned shelter is expected to happen by June.

While Adams touted the closures of dozens of shelters, his administration opened a massive new 2,200-male migrant shelter in the Bronx on Saturday despite furious local opposition to the move, citing safety concerns, particularly for women.

Furious Bronx residents expressed their anger last month after learning that they were powerless to stop a massive 2,200 male-only migrant shelter from opening in their neighborhood. (Fox 5 NY)

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The opening of the facility at 825 E. 141st St. sparked furious scenes at a Bronx community board meeting last month when residents said that they were never consulted on the decision.

"I have young women who come to me to study. I have never been afraid in the South Bronx, I am now terrified," Judy Kudlow, an artist who said she operates an art school directly across from the building said. "I'm terrified for me, for my students. I will have to move… You have made a terrible mistake."

Some migrants will be transferred to the Bronx site from the sprawling migrant tent shelter on Randalls Island, which is also earmarked to close as Adams’ office said that 45,000 migrants are still in taxpayer-funded accommodation.

In his interview, Adams said that immigration is a federal issue and that his administration would not take part in deportations unless it involved criminal activity. The Trump administration has vowed to carry out the largest deportation effort in U.S. history and indicated it would target violent criminals first. Adams has met with border "czar" Tom Homan on how to execute those efforts. 

"We do not collaborate based on city law and any form of deportation based just on a deportation strategy because of civil enforcement," Adams said.

Border Czar Tom Homan has met with New York City Mayor Eric Adams about the city’s ongoing migrant crisis.  (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images, left; and Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images, right)

"I'm allowed under the city law to collaborate with any criminal enforcement and that is what I've been calling for two years and I'm happy there's an administration that heard me and they're willing to collaborate."

Adams said that his administration would make sure it’s in compliance with both federal and city law while touting his credentials to be re-elected later this year and defiantly said he would not be resigning, despite some Democrats calling on him to do so amid a federal corruption probe. 

"I'm looking forward to showing how well we've done for the city," Adams said. 

Michael Dorgan is a writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business.

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