THE historic Roosevelt Hotel in midtown Manhattan, shuttered three years ago, is set to be reopened to accommodate asylum-seekers just as other New York City hotels are being converted to emergency shelters.

Mayor Eric Adams announced yesterday that the city will use it to eventually provide as many as 1,000 rooms for migrants who are expected to arrive in coming weeks.

The increase of migrants is likely because of the expiration of pandemic-era rules, known collectively as title 42, that had allowed federal officials to turn away asylum-seekers from the US-Mexico border.

Across the city, hotels like the Roosevelt are being transformed into emergency shelters, many of them in prime locations near Times Square, the World Trade Centre memorial site and the Empire State Building.

The city is legally required to provide shelter to anyone who needs it.

But Mayor Adams says the city is running out of room for migrants and has sought financial help from the state and federal governments.

“New York City has now cared for more than 65,000 asylum-seekers, already opening up over 140 emergency shelters and eight large-scale humanitarian relief centres in addition to this one to manage this national crisis,” the mayor said in a statement.