New York City police officers cleared out an encampment of migrants who were refusing eviction from their temporary free stay at a ritzy Manhattan hotel Wednesday night.
The migrants, who City Hall described as mostly "single men," slept on the street outside the Watson Hotel for three days following their eviction earlier this week. City officials planned to transfer migrants from the hotel to a 1,000-bed shelter in Brooklyn on Sunday. The illegal migrants, who were given free rooms at the $300-per-night Hells Kitchen hotel, refused to vacate, however, and were joined by activists rallying outside the building.
Images from the Wednesday night sweep show NYPD officers and vehicles grouping around the migrants as city workers clean up the area.
"We are grateful that almost all single men who were staying at the Watson Hotel have chosen to heed our calls and come inside from the frigid temperatures tonight," a spokesman for Mayor Eric Adams said in a Wednesday statement. "The single men who were staying at the Watson have now all either chosen to transfer to the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal — a humanitarian relief center that multiple elected officials today called a ‘warm’ location — or decided to leave our care by connecting with friends, family, or other networks."
ILLEGAL MIGRANTS REFUSE TO LEAVE NYC HOTEL FOR BROOKLYN MIGRANT RELIEF CENTER, SLEEP IN THE STREET
"To be clear, no arrests were made tonight, and the only items discarded were those on the street. Any items asylum seekers had in their rooms are still in our care and will remain available for pick up," the statement continued.
New York City has struggled to cope with the influx of thousands of migrants from the U.S. border, bussed to NYC on the orders of Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and others.
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The city had received over 42,000 migrants by the end of January.
Mayor Adams sought to quash reports that the Brooklyn facility was inhumane with a visit to the shelter on Monday.
"I just had to come here when I started hearing all the rumors that it was too cold, my brother got on shorts. It’s warm inside. About the food not being there, healthy food is present," Adams said in a Twitter video.
The Brooklyn facility is built specifically to house single adult men, who make upon a significant portion of the migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border and being sent to NYC.
