Chaos erupted late Sunday night outside of a Midtown hotel when the city attempted to transfer migrants to Brooklyn, and the huddled masses refused to go.
The Watson Hotel locked its doors, refusing to allow asylum seekers back into the premises, on Jan. 29. The former residents pounded on the lodge’s door and pressed their faces against the glass, yelling “Open!” as security guards and staff watched on from the inside.
“I am cold, I am tired—I need water,” one migrant cried in Spanish. That call, among others, went unanswered Sunday night.
Sources from the city discounted, however, charged that the unrest was ignited by organizations seeking to undermine its efforts by preying on the fears of the migrants, who claimed without evidence them that the Brooklyn facility where the migrants were being taken — the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal — was akin to an ICE detention center.
