The ‘Roosevelt’, which is quite a big apple iconhad to close due to the pandemic, and now it reopens its doors as a temporary asylum macro-center in which migrants, in addition to having a roof to sleep under, will be able to have medical and legal attention and contact their relatives.

It is a hotel with Renaissance airs, four stars and aspirational clientele, which, about to turn a century (opened in 1924, closed in 2020), has seen characters from New York social life pass through its corridors and halls with tradition. In addition, the international jet set has stayed in its suites, beginning with the president rooseveltwhich gives it its name and inaugurated it.

However, now your guests will be migrants who are arriving by the tens of thousands —more than 65,000 just since last August— to New York, generally from Latin America and an often tortuous journey.

So, from this week, families with children begin to check-in in 175 of their 1,000 rooms (distributed over 19 floors). Over time, the idea is that the ‘complete’ sign will return. Specifically, a hundred stays will be reserved for those migrants who arrive in New York on their way to other US states.

Last Friday they received two buses with migrants and this Monday another three, all sent by the Republican governor of Texas, who has spent months dedicating himself to expelling “undocumented” so-called “”sanctuary cities for migrants”, with which he does not agree.

The chosen ones will be in the 45th streetin the heart of the central almond of the Big Apple, and just a few steps from the cosmopolitan Fifth Avenuevery close to the interchange of the famous Grand Central Station, and less than a kilometer from mythical Empire State.

Migrants will have at their disposal, in what used to be a commercial gallery with souvenirs and luxury brands, a law firm, medical consultationand instead of cocktails and evenings of jazzwide spaces for “reconnect with families or friends.

In this way, the hotel becomes the ninth Large Emergency Humanitarian Aid and Response Center in the city. “It’s not the most fortunate, or desirable, but if it’s closed and they can take advantage of it, so be it,” says Sam, the former goalkeeper, to which he adds: “I would have preferred to return in other circumstances.”

The ‘Roosevelt’ will perhaps be the most striking hotel converted into a refuge, although it will not be the only. Also, they will gymnasiums and pavilions schools. This is an initiative that has been carried out mostly by the New York City Council without consulting with residents or neighborhoods, which has led to some complaints, such as those from Brooklyn residents.

Currently, there are more than 30,000 migrants sheltered ‘sine die’ in the more than 140 shelters created before this very serious humanitarian crisis and economic.