They need more rooms at the inn.
New York City's use of hotels as emergency shelters to house immigrants will continue for some time, the Post reported, with the Department of Homeless Services using a total of 14,000 units to house immigrants by at least next year. The company is reportedly seeking a contract with a hotel to provide rooms. year.
The city projects that housing spending for immigrants over the past two years and this year combined will exceed $2.3 billion, much of it in rent paid to hotels in the Big Apple.
Approximately 150 hotels are currently accepting immigrants, and total spending on immigration services over three years is expected to reach $5.76 billion.
“Taxpayers can't pay for this forever,” said Nicole Gelinas, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute think tank.
With the government in turmoil following criminal charges against Mayor Eric Adams, Gelinas said Gov. Kathy Hochul should “take the lead” in managing the city's migrant crisis.
She said it is completely unacceptable that so many hotels in midtown and downtown Manhattan tourist districts are being converted into immigrant shelters rather than serving the tourism industry.
“We should stop using hotels as shelters by the end of the year,” Gelinas said.
The City has three existing contracts with the New York City Hotel Association to work with an extensive network of hotels to provide shelter space on a voluntary basis.
The total cost to house immigrants per room is $352 per night, according to city data.
There are economic benefits, especially for hotels in suburban areas that are not tourist destinations and have low occupancy rates. The city fills all the rooms, pays a lot of money to do so, and provides a reliable source of income.
“The New York City Department of Homeless Services aims to continue the city's shelter program by procuring a vendor who can assist in accessing large commercial hotels and acquiring hotel management services in response to the current emergency situation. ” the agency said. That new invitation.
The hotel association plans to apply for oversight of a new shelter contract, said Vijay Dandapani, president and CEO of the hotel association.
“I will fill out the RFP.” [request for proposal]” he said.
Dandapani said the hotel association's foundation is paying about $100,000 a month to manage three of its existing contracts with the city.
“In addition to their regular duties, we have five full-time employees specifically to fulfill our contractual obligations, in addition to the work performed by our regular contracted HANYC staff,” he said. .
The city's Asylum Funding Tracker projects that costs for immigrant shelters will fall from $1.51 billion last year to $233 million this fiscal year, ending June 30, 2025.
Adams said evacuation restrictions of 30 days for individuals and 60 days for families are helping reduce the immigrant population in the city's shelter system.
