New York switches illegal alien housing problem from Manhattan to the Bronx

THE BRONX, NY - Fox News Digital reports that as New York City shutters some shelters housing illegal aliens, they have opened up a 2,200-capacity male-only shelter in the Bronx, angering borough residents who are opposed to the move. 

The new facility is a 275,000-square-foot former warehouse, which started housing illegal aliens on Saturday, according to a spokesperson for Mayor Eric Adams. 

The opening of the shelter, coming with a massive influx of illegal men being housed in the residential area, set off community members, who told a Bronx community board meeting last month that they were never consulted about 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 operates an art school directly across from the building, said. “I’m terrified for me, my students. I will have to move…you have made a terrible mistake.” 

Meanwhile, Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson, a Democrat, slammed the city for allowing the project to open before the community could discuss it. She hoped the facility could have been repurposed into a manufacturing facility that would have created over 2,000 jobs. 

Some felt that residents believed the community was being treated as “a dumping ground” for illegals, a feeling also held by Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY). 

Residents have been protesting outside the facility in hopes of a last-minute change of plans. However, those protests appear to have been in vain. Fox News Digital said they contacted Adams’ office to confirm the shelter’s opening, but no response was received before publication. 

The New York Post said many of the illegals are being transferred from a tent shelter on Randalls Island, according to city records. 

Adams’ office said earlier this week that “only 45,000" illegals are left in the city’s care, down from a high of 69,000 in January 2024. The illegal aliens have cost city taxpayers billions of dollars to cover housing for the estimated 232,000 who have arrived in the Big Apple since spring 2022. 

Adams announced Monday that the shelter at the formerly swanky Roosevelt Hotel will be closed in the next few months, “saving taxpayers millions of dollars.” A Post source told the paper the closing should happen by June. 

The Roosevelt Hotel, a massive facility with around 1,000 rooms, has housed over 173,000 illegals since it opened to illegals in May 2023. The hotel has become a focal point of the city’s crisis with illegal aliens over the past two years and was the first stop for many of those who entered the country illegally. 

“Thanks to the sound policy decisions of our team, we are able to announce the closure of this site and help even more asylum seekers take the next steps in their journeys as they envision an even brighter future while simultaneously saving taxpayers millions of dollars,” Adams said.

The new Bronx facility was renovated in 2017 and is owned by SoBro Local Development Corporation, a nonprofit whose mission is to “enhance the quality of life in the South Bronx by strengthening businesses and creating and implementing innovative economic, housing, educational, and career development programs for youths and adults.” 

SoBro’s website says it manages over 450 affordable and special needs housing units in the Bronx and Harlem. 

A leftist city councilwoman who represents parts of the Bronx and Manhattan, including the location where the shelter is located, said last month that she recommended the new location, as well as other locations in the Bronx, claiming illegals have a “right” to shelter and the city is legally obligated to house them. 

“They can’t leave them out on the street, they can’t let them sleep on the street unless they want to,” said Democrat Diana Ayala. “They have to put them somewhere.” 

Not everyone agrees with Ayala’s sentiments. 

“We live in an area where there’s a high crime rate, a high poverty rate,” Tyreek Goodman, a member of the Bronx County Conservative Party who has protested outside the facility, said. He noted that the money being spent on the shelter could have been better spent on local residents. 

“Every day, somebody’s being evicted. The price of living has gone up. How could you not put us first when you can clearly see your citizens’ struggles? That building could have been used for the youth, elderly, veterans, and our own homelessness.”