NYC hotels that converted into migrant shelters set to rake in over $1B in taxpayer funds
Hotels are set to easily rake in well over a billion dollars in taxpayer funds for turning their buildings into migrant shelters.
Of the 193 migrant shelters being used by the city to house 65,300 individuals, 153 — or nearly 80% — are hotels, motels or inns, according to an internal document obtained by The Post.
New York City is spending, on average, $160 per hotel room to house migrants, officials said, although some operators reportedly have banked more than $300 a night per room since migrants first began being bussed up from the southern border in spring 2022. The taxpayer tab for daily migrant shelter costs overall is $352 per household, according to the city.
Through May 31, of the estimated $4.88 billion spent on the migrant crisis, $1.98 billion went toward housing, which includes the costs for hotels but also other shelters such as the sprawling tent cities at Floyd Bennett Field and Randall’s Island, according to the Office of Management and Budget.
Among the more staggering migrant shelter contracts is a $5.13 million-a-month deal between the 1,331-room Row NYC hotel in Midtown Manhattan and the city’s Health + Hospitals agency, according to its June board of directors report. The Crowne Plaza JFK in South Jamaica, Queens, meanwhile, landed a $2 million a month deal for use of its 335 rooms, the report noted.
