Some migrants refuse to leave Midtown's Watson Hotel for Brooklyn Cruise Terminal shelter
NEW YORK -- Some asylum seekers are pushing back on a plan to move to a new shelter in Brooklyn. Some of them say they're refusing to leave the Midtown hotel that the city has been housing them in.
The city is trying to move some of them from the Watson Hotel to a new shelter at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal, but many of the men gathered outside the hotel said they wouldn't leave.
The city sent MTA buses, but many of the people said they wouldn't board them, adding they were concerned about the conditions at the new shelter.
Some asylum seekers got on with their belongings while other migrants shouted for them to stay.
Earlier this month, Mayor Eric Adams announced a plan to move single men from the Watson Hotel to a new shelter at the cruise terminal. Some migrants protested that plan alongside immigrant rights advocates.
"The hotel Watson told them to get on buses at 7:30 this morning to go to the Red Hook cruise terminal, where the conditions are as bad or worse than the Randalls Island refugee camp that was opened a few months ago. And then the men came immediately back and warned the other residents of this hotel not to get on these buses," said Sergio Uzurin of the Mutual Aid Collective.
Some of these migrants then crowded around the door, trying to get back into the Watson Hotel. However, the hotel did not immediately letting everyone back in.
The mayor's office released a statement saying the new shelter will provide the same services as every other relief center in the city.
The city also said the protest was organized by local groups who have repeatedly sought to stop efforts to support migrants. CBS2 asked which groups the city was referring to and was waiting to hear back.