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Hundreds of migrants are outside of The Roosevelt Hotel in the center of Manhattan, in New York City. The hotel operates as the migrant processing center for city shelters. But the shelters are full now and migrants are sleeping on sidewalks as they wait for help. Evgeny Maslov has the story narrated by Anna Rice.]
Content TypePackage
LanguageEnglish
Transcript/Script((TITLE: TV New York Migrants – Maslov
HEAD: Migrant Crisis Swells in NYC as Asylum Seekers Camp Outside
TEASER:
DATE: 08/xx/2023
PUBLISHED AT: 08/xx/2023
BYLINE: Evgeny Maslov
CONTRIBUTOR:
DATELINE: New York
VIDEOGRAPHER: Michael Eckels
VIDEO SOURCE (S): VOA Original
SCRIPT EDITORS: KEnochs; MAS
PLATFORMS: TV only
TRT: 3:20
VID APPROVED BY: KE
TYPE: TVPKG
UPDATE: EDS NOTES: ))
((INTRO))
[[Hundreds of migrants are outside of The Roosevelt Hotel in the center of Manhattan, in New York City. The hotel operates as the migrant processing center for city shelters. But the shelters are full now and migrants are sleeping on sidewalks as they wait for help. Evgeny Maslov has the story narrated by Anna Rice.]]
((NARRATION))
Food and water for migrants in midtown Manhattan – in what is becoming a familiar sight in New York City.
Since late July, thousands of migrants have been bused from Texas to New York and other U.S. states. With shelters full, migrants are sleeping outside of the Roosevelt Hotel, a processing center for the city’s shelters.
[[FOR RADIO: Jean Carlos Vazquez is a migrant from Venezuela.
((Jean Carlos Vázquez, Migrant from Venezuela)) ((SPANISH))
"It’s been a few hours since I arrived. They gave me water, some apples and other food. But no one has answered any questions I had. They just gave me a ticket with my number in line, no idea how long I’ll have to wait."
((NARRATION))
Migrants mostly come from Africa and Latin America. Most of them don’t speak English and don’t know what to do, as many were told at the border, they’ll get shelter in New York.
Natalia and Maxim Subbotin are from Russia; they hope to get political asylum in the US. After having spent three months in Mexico, they made it to New York.
((Maxim Subbotin, Migrant from Russia)) ((RUS))
“At Roosevelt Hotel they told us, ‘Come here tonight, you’ll have a room to sleep in, you won’t sleep in the street.’ Yet the line doesn’t move at all, so I don’t know how long we’ll be here.”
((NARRATION))
New York authorities say about 90,000 migrants have arrived here from the southern border in the last year.
((Murad Awawdeh, New York Immigration Coalition))
"Yes, absolutely, there's been an increase. But to see that we are still operating with the mentality of emergency response as opposed to having better plans put in place has been incredibly distressing to see."
((NARRATION))
Activists are pushing to expedite temporary work permits for migrants so they can have money to buy food and accommodations
((Power Malu, Activist)) ((ENG))
“Migrants don’t want to be in shelters for the rest of their lives. They are here just to get a little opportunity to get out. And once they get a little job or something that can help their family, we are already experiencing them going elsewhere and going other places where they can build a community.”
((NARRATION))
New York City Mayor Eric Adams inspects shelters regularly, and for months he has appealed to the Biden Administration for help. City shelters are full, and the city spends millions of dollars on migrant support.
((Eric Adams, New York City Mayor))
“We need help. And it's not going to get any better. From this moment on, it's downhill. There is no more room. I was at the Roosevelt on Saturday, and I went there on Sunday. They lined up around the block, hurting the businesses there, this is not going to get better. We put busses there for cooling systems, but it's just not sustainable."
((Anne Williams-Isom, Deputy Mayor of Health and Human Services))((ENG))
“I think the federal government should take the forefront in this crisis knowing and having all the data about where the unrest is and what is happening and what people need; and that we need to make sure that we have something where one city bearing the brunt of this, doesn't seem fair to me.”
((NARRATION))
On this night, over 100 migrants spent the night outside the Roosevelt Hotel. The mayor’s office promises to find at least a temporary solution in the coming days, but without federal help, they say, it’ll be tough.
((For Evgeny Maslov in New York, Anna Rice, VOA News))
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
NetworkVOA
Location (dateline)
in New York
Embargo DateAugust 3, 2023 15:49 EDT
Byline
Evgeny Maslov in New York, Anna Rice, VOA News
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English
