NYPD Sweeps Migrants from Manhattan Hotel Sidewalk Following Days of Protest and Uncertainty
Dozens of migrants camped out in front of the Watson Hotel before being cleared out, Feb. 1, 2023. | Ben Fractenberg/THE CITY By Gabriel Poblete, The City This article was originally published on Feb 1 9:57pm EST by THE CITY NEW YORK - Police and sanitation crews swept asylum seekers from the sidewalk in front of a Hell’s Kitchen hotel Wednesday night, seeking to end a standoff with men who had refused to move to a new city-run shelter in Brooklyn. Working with grassroots community organizers, the migrants had rallied earlier in the day for work permits to help them become self-sufficient. In the meantime, they sought a place to stay with better conditions than available at the barracks-like Brooklyn Cruise Terminal in Red Hook, which some had inspected on a reconnaissance mission. At about 4 p.m, staffers from the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs arrived at the Watson Hotel on West 57th Street to ask the migrants to relocate to the Brooklyn shelter, and several proceede