Heartbreak Hotel: Migrants continue to sleep outside Midtown’s Roosevelt Hotel as shelter struggle continues

Migrants say they are worried and confused after days of sleeping on the Midtown streets.

Photo by Dean Moses

Men, women and children continue to sleep huddled on the sidewalk outside of the Roosevelt Hotel in Midtown Manhattan, as the famous hotel is at full capacity and the City says it is bursting at the seams with asylum seekers.

Many immigrants could be seen laying on cardboard Tuesday outside the hotel at East 45th Street and Madison Avenue, while pedestrians pounded the pavement around them on their way to work. Some immigrants could be seen washing their hands and feet with water bottles, with others expressing desperation for food.

Several frantically reached out with open arms to a man who was distributing small paper bags containing sandwiches and muffins. It wasn’t clear whether the man was a city employee, although he did promise to return with more food since there was just not enough to go around.

Heartbreak Hotel: Migrants continue to sleep outside Midtown's Roosevelt Hotel as shelter struggle continues 2

Heartbreak Hotel: Migrants continue to sleep outside Midtown's Roosevelt Hotel as shelter struggle continues 3

Immigrants have been camped outside the hotel since the weekend. The newcomers have been told very little about whether they will have a place to stay, according to the asylum seekers who spoke to amNewYork Metro with the help of a translator.

One man from Venezuela said he has been in the streets for two days and yearns to work.

“I don’t want to stay in a shelter, I want to work,” the man said through the aid of the translator.

Savi, who did not provide his last name, arrived in New York several months ago before traveling to Ohio. He has since returned to Manhattan, saying that there was a lack of opportunity outside the Big Apple. However, he said he was surprised to find other immigrants like himself languishing on the streets of Manhattan when he came back.

“I am shocked. It wasn’t like this two months ago. They sent us to a shelter. Some people here said they have been here for like two or three days, sleeping on the street,” Savi said, who speaks English. “I am worried.”