A stone’s throw from Grand Central Station in Manhattan, the Roosevelt Hotel is a former luxury establishment from the 1920s which closed in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, before being transformed into a reception center for migrants and applicants asylum in 2023. In front of the entrance, Marianna, who fled Venezuela, waits for her niece. She has been in New York for five months, a city she reached on foot, by train, then by plane on a flight paid for by an association.
She also lives in a converted hotel near Times Square, in a room that she shares with her 6-year-old son. “He goes to public school, where he learns English. I’m waiting for a work permit.” she summarizes. As a Venezuelan fleeing her country’s collapsing economy, she has special status that should allow her to obtain a permit more quickly. Many other asylum seekers try their luck in the informal economy as delivery men or sellers of fruit and sweets on the streets and the metro.
Migrants from West Africa
2023-09-29 07:00:00
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