On Monday, the Mayor of New York ended a lease agreement with the Roosevelt Hotel.

The Roosevelt Hotel is owned by Pakistan International Airlines. New York City has decided to end its $220 million lease with the Roosevelt Hotel. The hotel is now used as a shelter for migrants. The accommodation is costly here, and the hotel faced severe criticism from the public over taxpayer money being spent on migrant accommodation.

New York lease Roosevelt Hotel:

The Roosevelt Hotel was closed in 2020 due to heavy financial losses faced during the COVID-19 pandemic. It remained shut for three years. In 2023, the hotel reopened and became a shelter for asylum seekers.

The Texas Governor had been sending migrants to liberal states like New York. The city needed a place to house these migrants, and the Roosevelt Hotel became a key processing centre.

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New York City leased the 1,025-room hotel for three years at a total cost of $220 million. The cost per night for each migrant was around $200. The hotel accommodated tens of thousands of migrants over the past year.

A sharp decline in migrant arrivals:

In 2023, 4000 migrants were arriving every week in New York City, but now it left with only 350 per week. The Roosevelt Hotel played a crucial role in managing the crisis. It handled around 75% of all migrants who arrived in New York City. However, with the decline in arrivals, the city saw an opportunity to cut costs. The mayor of New York argued that the high costs of the shelter were no longer justified.

New York faces criticism:

Many New Yorkers and politicians opposed the use of taxpayer money for migrant housing. Critics argued that the city was spending too much on people who were not legal residents. Right-wing politicians opposed the policy. They claimed that New York was prioritising migrants over American citizens. The federal government also pressured the city to reduce spending on migrant shelters. That is why the mayor of New York decided to end the lease agreement with the hotel to ease political pressure and cut unnecessary expenses.

Pakistan’s plans for the Roosevelt Hotel:

The Government of Pakistan has been trying to decide what to do with the Roosevelt Hotel. PIA owned hotel, Roosevelt Hotel, faced severe financial losses for years. In February 2024, the Pakistan caretaker government signed an agreement with a US consortium. The goal was to develop the Roosevelt Hotel through a joint venture.

By August 2024, the Privatisation Commission of Pakistan recommended that a joint venture was the best option. It meant that private investors would help revamp and operate the hotel. With New York ending its lease, Pakistan may now speed up the process of converting the Roosevelt Hotel into a commercial project.