WASHINGTON: Pakistan and New York City officials are set to begin negotiations regarding the future of the Roosevelt Hotel in Manhattan, after the city’s mayor anno­unced the early termination of an agreement that repurposed the prime property into a shelter for refugees.

The hotel, which opened in 1924, is named after former US President Theodore Roosevelt. It is located next to the Grand Central Terminal, the main train station in the Big Apple.

In 2023, Pakistan Interna­tional Airlines (PIA) — which owns the iconic property —signed a three-year lease with the city, worth around $220 million.

Under the lease, the city was to have control of the hotel until June 2026, after which it would be returned to PIA. The arrangement was initially made to accommodate the increasing number of migrants arriving in New York due to the humanitarian crisis at the US-Mexico border.

Mayor Eric Adams says facility housing migrants to close in June this year; authorities set to hold talks with Pakistani officials on property’s future

During a news briefing on Monday, NYC Mayor Eric Adams confirmed that the city would be ending its lease with PIA and closing down the Asylum Arrival and the Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief centres at the Roosevelt Hotel.

“Today, we announced we will begin the process of closing down the Roosevelt Hotel’s Asylum Arrival Centre,” Mayor Adams said, adding that the closure would take place by June this year, a full year ahead of the end date for the original lease.

Despite the decision to terminate the lease, city officials clarified that the hotel would continue to provide shelter to migrants until June. The move comes after a significant decline was witnessed in the number of new migrant arrivals, dropping from 4,000 per week at the peak of the crisis in 2023 to approximately 350 per week in recent days.

The use of the Roosevelt Hotel as a refugee shelter drew sharp criticism from various quarters. Critics, especially from the conservative ‘Make America Great Again’ (MAGA) movement, raised concerns about the substantial taxpayer spending on housing asylum seekers.

The hotel’s conversion into a shelter also prompted a backlash from businesses in Manhattan and conservative political figures. Former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy was one of the most vocal critics, calling the arrangement an example of wasteful government spending.

Earlier this month, Mayor Adams launched legal action against the Trump White House after the latter reversed the transfer of $80.5 million in Congress-sanctioned funds — earmarked for immigrant services — that had already made their way into a City Hall bank account.

“Without a doubt, our immigration system is broken, but the cost of managing an international humanitarian crisis should not overwhelmingly fall onto one city alone,” Politico quoted him as saying.

The NYC mayor also faces the prospect of a lonely mayoral race — another topic he addressed in the presser on Monday — as most of his close aides have bowed out in the wake of his legal troubles over corruption charges.

From Pakistan’s perspective, the premature termination of the agreement is concerning, as it could potentially affect PIA’s revenue expectations. The $220 million lease was seen as a valuable income stream for the national airline, which has faced financial challenges in recent years. Given that the Roosevelt Hotel is a historic property in prime Manhattan real estate, it is unlikely that a replacement for this lucrative lease can be found anytime soon.

Further complicating matters is the issue of damage to the hotel during its use as a shelter. Reports indicate that the property has sustained some deterioration due to the strain of housing migrants for over a year, including wear and tear to the rooms and facilities.

While city officials have ma­i­ntained that repairs will be considered, the cost of ref­ur­bishing the building before it is returned to PIA could place an additional financial burden on New York taxpayers or the city government.

Published in Dawn, February 26th, 2025