Two migrants at the packed Roosevelt Hotel in Manhattan were busted for assault in separate incidents over the weekend — including one who tried to strangle his girlfriend, police and sources said Sunday.
Jefferson Rivera, 23, an asylum seeker sheltered at the Midtown migrant intake center and family shelter, was arrested Sunday and charged with assault after getting into a violent fight with his girlfriend and throttling her, authorities said.
The incident came one day after 23-year-old Franklin Mendoza also got into a fight with his girlfriend at the hotel and was arrested.
According to court records, Mendoza was charged with harassment, aggravated harassment and three counts of assault in the incident.
He was arraigned in Manhattan on Sunday morning and released without bail pending a return to court Nov. 1.
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Rivera had not been arraigned as of late Sunday afternoon.
Earlier this month, another migrant at the hotel was stabbed by his girlfriend in a domestic attack, authorities have said.
The hotel has been a hotbed of controversy since the spring of last year when migrants from the US border with Mexico began arriving in the Big Apple. Mayor Eric Adams established the Roosevelt as a shelter and main processing center for asylum seekers.
The hotel has also become the center of an underground economy, with many of the migrants taking a slew of off-the-book jobs, including in food delivery, while awaiting legal federal work permits.
More than 110,000 migrants have flocked to the five boroughs since the spring of last year, with more than 60,000 still being housed and fed by city and state taxpayers.
