NYC NOW - Evening Roundup: Relocation Notices Go Out to Migrants at Manhattan Hotel, MGM Resorts Withdraws Casino Bid, and More New Yorkers Struggle to Feed Their Pets

Episode Date: October 15, 2025

Migrants living at the Row Hotel in Midtown Manhattan are receiving notices to leave the shelter as the city prepares to close the facility. Plus, MGM Resorts has decided to withdraw its bid for a full casino in Yonkers. And finally, more people are struggling to afford dog and cat food, so they’re turning to pantries for help.

Relocation notices go out to migrants at the Roe Hotel in Manhattan. MGM resorts, which draws its casino bid. And New Yorkers struggle to feed their pets. From WMYC, this is NYC now. I'm Jene Pierre. We begin in Midtown Manhattan, where migrants living at the Roe Hotel are receiving notices requiring them to leave the site as the city prepares to close the facility.

One of them is a woman named Estefania, from Ecuador, she asked that we not use her last name. Estefania says she's worried about being forced to live on the streets. City officials say migrants without housing will be transferred to other shelters. The row housed more than 3,600 people at his peak. Currently, there are about 3,000 migrants living there, mostly families. New York continues to scale back its emergency migrant shelters with just four migrant-only sites remaining,

That's down for more than 200. MGM Resorts has decided to withdraw its bid for a full casino in Yonkers, a move that came as a surprise to Governor Kathy Hokel. The company made the announcement despite qualifying for the final round of the bidding process just two weeks ago. Hokel says she sees no reason to question the company's decision. I think MGM knows, you know, they made their own probably financial decision based on what their needs are. The company's withdrawal means that there are now three remaining bids in contention for up to three casino licenses. All the remaining bids are located within the five boroughs.

They include casinos at Ferry Point in the Bronx, near City Field and Flushing, and at the Aqueduct Racetrack. The New York Independent System Operator is sounding the alarm on energy reliability issues in New York City. The not-for-profit corporation ensures the state has reliable. and affordable power. The group released two reports this week, saying the city could experience frequent and longer outages over the next five years. The assessment cites increasing electricity demands

and difficulties in the new power generation as key factors. The report also says the state will need to keep running aging plants that were scheduled for closure. New Yorkers are struggling to feed themselves and their pets as food costs continue to rise. We'll have more on that. after the break. New Yorkers say it's not just getting more expensive to feed themselves,

but their pets too. More people are struggling to afford dog and cat food these days, and they're turning to pantries for help. WMYC's Karen Yee has more. All these boxes were filled with pet food. At the Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Bay Ridge, Michelle Jankola sorts through what's left of the donated kibbles and canned cat food. Every few months, she gives it to seniors who don't have enough money to feed their pets. Husband, wife, one dies. They lose an income. Someone gets laid off.

So that's happening more and more these days. Jencola says pets can be especially important for seniors. They often live alone or aren't mobile and can't leave their homes to find what they need. It's why she started Kiso's pet pantry three years ago to help those 62 years and older. Their families move away. and their dogs and cats, birds, whatever, become their family. Seniors will share their food with their pets or will eat their pets food

because they don't have enough money to feed both of them. She tries to fill in the gaps where she can, including helping people at the church's annual blessing of the animals. Elena Titova is picking up cans of cat food from Kiso's pet pantry. I could be retired a long time ago. Titova didn't want to tell me how old she is, but admitted she's a senior. She says she's still working at a medical insurance company so she can afford to feed her two cats who live with her and the 20 strays outside.

I believe in reincarnation. And I'm saying to myself, maybe next life I'm going to be a cat too. And why not to help the cats and hoping that somebody is going to help me? New Yorkers are under increasing financial strain, with the cost of living, up and wages stagnant. They say the higher cost for food and rent means there's less left over for other expenses, like their pets. The city's largest contracted animal shelter says one in three pet surrenders so far this year are because of housing insecurity. The shelters even temporarily stopped taking pets this summer because they ran out of room.

Now food pantry providers say demand is surging for pet food, but supplies run out quickly. It always goes out before the next ship it comes. The New York Common Pantry is among the few in the city that, along with fresh produce for people, offer canned cat food and kibble. So sometimes they don't have it and I'd be like, oh, it'd be so devastating. 58-year-old Daisy Santiago says she visits the New York Common Pantry in East Harlem just to get bags of food for her two shitsos. Nico and Kimara. Santiago works as a home health aide, which means she doesn't always make enough every month. to buy a $35 bag of food for her two dogs.

Sometimes I go without buying stuff that I need, like a milk, a gallon of milk, or coffee or whatever, just to get them food, you know. She says for her, her dogs are... Everything. Everything. You're going to make me crying. I love them.

I'll be homeless with them, though. I won't give them away. Back at the blessing of the animals, Jankola also brought her dog. This is Bear. Bear. Hi, Bear. He should have been named chicken, but he's Bear.

Bear stands gently by her side as she hands out a few bags of canned cat food. She says it's what she gets the most request for, though one time she did get a donation of ferret food. I don't remember what ferret food is. Our pets, she says, whatever animal we choose, make us feel safe, especially when things can feel a little off balance. That's WMYC's, Karen. and Ye. Thanks for listening to NYC now from WMYC. I'm Jene Pierre. We'll be back tomorrow.