The Row Hotel, Hell’s Kitchen’s last remaining emergency migrant shelter, is scheduled to close by December 31 — months earlier than previously announced — and families are being moved out with as little as 24 hours’ notice, according to testimony at this week’s Manhattan Community Board 4 (MCB4) Housing, Health & Human Services Committee meeting.
A school bus drops off students at the Row Hotel on 8th Avenue between W44th and W45th Street. Photo: Catie Savage
Josephine Ishmon, Co-Chair of CB4’s Arts, Culture, Education & Schools (ACES) Committee, told board members that she learned the closure “has been moved up,” and that the Row — originally slated to wind down operations in April 2026 — will now shut its doors before the end of the year.
Ishmon said families inside the 1,331-room hotel are receiving abrupt instructions to vacate. “Families are being given notices that they have to leave the facility within 24 to 48 hours — they’re given two garbage bags and a MetroCard,” she said, and added that Department of Homeless Services staff are on site but that there are “only 100 beds left in Manhattan,” meaning many families may be sent to shelters in other boroughs.
However, Maria Ortiz — Co-Chair of the MCB4 Housing, Health & Human Services Committee — noted that some had received more warning. “Families are actually being given about three weeks’ notice,” she said, adding that one family she spoke to had been notified to leave by December 17. “They were told the shelter was closing later… but yes, now it’s December 31.”
Josephine Ishmon, Co-Chair of CB4’s Arts, Culture, Education & Schools Committee. Photo: Phil O’Brien
The accelerated timeline is already having an impact. Ishmon said approximately 17 families had been required to leave the hotel in recent days, with eight to 10 families expected to depart each day this week, and 20 to 25 families per day the week after, as the city works to empty the building by December 31. “They’re just trying to clear the place out… and they’re not really giving a reason why this is happening in such an expedited way,” she told the committee.
The instability is particularly concerning for local schools. Ishmon pointed out that 89 students from the Row attend PS 51, representing nearly a quarter of the school’s enrollment. “This is a very big issue,” she said, adding that the principal hopes to keep as many students as possible at their current school for continuity during a disruptive time.
Ishmon described the conditions surrounding the move-outs as chaotic and harmful. “Quite honestly, this is just disgraceful, the way that these families are being treated,” she said. “We are talking about mental illness and homelessness — and this is where it begins, because these families are just being treated so disrespectfully.”
Immigration enforcement agents detained people near a Midtown migrant shelter on October 16. Photo: Obtained by THE CITY
She also raised concern about immigration enforcement activity around the hotel. “ICE is all over the place, and these families are leaving the shelters with their garbage bags,” she told the board.
Ishmon urged the city to ensure safer, more orderly transfers for families who choose to relocate within the DHS system. “If a family decides that they want to stay in a DHS shelter, then they should be provided transportation in a DHS van to the new location — at least they’ll be safe from getting arrested,” she said. She added that in previous relocations, some families arrived at shelters only to be told no beds were available, a situation she said MCB4 wanted to prevent from recurring.
The board voted to send a letter requesting an emergency meeting between DHS, Health + Hospitals and the Department of Education to coordinate placements for remaining Row families — keeping children close to their schools whenever possible.
More information is expected at Monday evening’s MCB4 ACES Committee meeting, where the accelerated closure of the Row and its impact on students will be discussed in greater detail. The hybrid meeting — held from 6:30 to 9pm today at 353 W30th Street — is expected to include updates from school leaders, advocates and city agencies, as well as next steps for families still living at the Row.
A spokesperson for the Mayor’s Office told W42ST last night (Sunday) that the administration continues to wind down emergency migrant sites as the number of asylum seekers in the city’s care declines. In the administration’s previously released statement — which City Hall reaffirmed — officials noted that more than 206,000 migrants have exited the shelter system and many newcomers have chosen to relocate elsewhere with the City’s travel-assistance program, with Texas emerging as one of the most common destinations. The spokesperson added that families who still require shelter will be reassigned within the DHS system as operations at The Row wind down.
W42ST has reached out to Health + Hospitals, DHS and Highgate, which operates the hotel, for comment on the accelerated timetable.
The PS 51 PTA has compiled a document with ways to assist local families in need and other resources, which you can find here.