Asylum Seekers Protest Removal From Lincoln Center Area

By MATTHIAS LAI and ALEXA VILLATORO

Features Editor and Asst. News Editor

Following New York City’s decision to relocate asylum seekers from their temporary residence at The Watson Hotel, migrants protested outside the hotel for six days before they were removed by the New York Police Department (NYPD) on Feb. 1.

The hotel — which is located on West 57th Street, just three blocks from Fordham’s Lincoln Center campus — has served as a temporary shelter for migrants since November 2022. The city’s decision forced migrants to relocate to a new shelter at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal in Red Hook, which has been criticized by residents of the building and activists because they believe it is not safe, sanitary or accessible to the rest of the city.

The city started using The Watson as a Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Center (HERRC) for single adult male migrants. New York City has a decades-old “Right to Shelter” law mandating that the city provide adequate housing to all people experiencing homelessness, which includes asylum seekers. Many of the asylum seekers staying at the hotel had been bused into New York’s Port Authority Bus Terminal from Texas, creat-