The historic Roosevelt Hotel opened its doors as an “asylum-seeker arrival center” on Friday as New York City continues to grapple with an influx of migrants from the southern border.
Photos from inside the building showed the luxury interior covered in signs indicating areas for check-in and registration, as well as chairs with forms about emergency medical services.
The hotel, which first opened its doors in 1924, has been the backdrop for a string of Hollywood films — including “Maid in Manhattan,” “Malcolm X,” “Wall Street,” “The French Connection,” “The Irishman” and “Man on a Ledge.”
Most of the crowd looked happy, flashing peace signs and thumbs up as they were ushered inside.
One man, however, pulled his hoodie down to cover his face. There was a brief, non-violent conflict as hotel employees asked photographers to move out of the way.
Around 8:30 a.m., the MTA bus took single men and some women away. There were also two other buses parked on Madison Avenue and East 45th, ready to take the processed migrants away from the site.
Volunteers are no longer being used in Pennsylvania, so buses are greeted by state police, military personnel, and city workers before being forwarded to the Roosevelt.
Those who show up at the storied hotel near Grand Central Station are seeking services and advice that would typically be provided by Pennsylvania.
One teenage girl, Ariannis Ramirez Colina, told The Post that she and her mother were initially bussed to Pennsylvania after traveling from Venezuela.
Ariannis’ uncle, Anthony Colina, is staying at another location but came to see his niece at the Roosevelt on Friday. The pair were happy to be reunited, and hugged.
“I’m happy to get back together with my uncle,” Ariannis said.
“I feel good. I don’t know how to explain it. Everything was very hard. Thank God we are all here and nothing happened.”
A pizza shop owner near the hotel told The Post that he heard about 350 migrants will be arriving, though he was unsure if they were all coming Friday or over a period of days.
He added that he also plans to feed the new arrivals.
Some locals, however, are less than enthusiastic that the hotel – which was once a coveted hangout for well-heeled New Yorkers before shutting its doors during the COVID pandemic – is now a haven for migrants.
One man walking past the building on Friday morning mumbled “f–ing disgusting,” but declined to comment further.
A 69-year-old Army veteran and retired law enforcement officer also expressed misgivings about the plan.
“When they come they are giving them a hero’s welcome but give it a month and it all dries up. It’s all gonna wear out,” the man, who said he was born in the US but has Puerto Rican ancestry, lamented.
“Our taxpayers’ money could be used for building better schools, providing more books…and there is gonna be a major problem with housing. They say there is a lack of affordable housing. So where are [the migrants] going to stay? There’ll be 100,000 of them showing up here,” he continued.
“They should stay in Chile, Mexico…why are they not taking them? They have the same food, speak the same language, they have the same climate, they are near their own countries so why are they coming here? Because of the free stuff. They should close the border.”
As of Friday morning, less than 200 of the Roosevelt’s 1,000 guest rooms are reportedly set up for migrants’ use. Images of the rooms show relatively bare furnishings with toiletry essentials stocked in the adjacent bathrooms.
The disgruntled veteran slammed what he viewed as Mayor Adams’ oscillating approach to the migrant crisis.
“The Mayor is speaking out of both sides of his mouth. This is a sanctuary city. They are welcome here, right? Now he is crying that the city can’t afford them, it’s too expensive,” he scoffed.
“Instead of directing tax payers’ to African American communities [in the city], now it’s going to fund them. I think it’s a disservice.
“Look at this hotel? This was a money maker for tourism. They could have restored it for the tourists because summer is coming just like how they restored it for them. The city needs the money.”
