New York City is renting over 150 hotels to house illegal immigrants, with the city paying more than $350 per night per room. This move comes amid rising concerns over border security and immigration, which have become key issues as the country heads into the final month before elections.
The Daily Mail reports that New York City estimates it will need around 14,000 hotel rooms for housing immigrants through next year, at a projected total cost of $5.76 billion. Since 2022, over 200,000 foreign nationals have arrived in the city, many bused in from southern states by GOP governors, who are highlighting the impact of mass illegal immigration on blue states.
These hotel rooms, rented at an average cost of $352 per night, are adding up. Nicole Gelinas of the Manhattan Institute has called for the city to end its use of hotels as shelters by the end of the year, warning that the cost is unsustainable for taxpayers.
Despite the enormous expense, New York City is pushing to secure even more hotel rooms. The Department of Homeless Services (DHS) stated that they are seeking vendors to continue the City Sanctuary Facility program, aimed at acquiring large-scale commercial hotels and management services to deal with the ongoing crisis.
Some of NYC’s most iconic hotels, including 22 in Midtown Manhattan, have been converted into shelters. The four-star Row NYC Hotel in Times Square and the Roosevelt Hotel near Grand Central Station are among those being used. Hotel owners have raised concerns about the long-term impact on the city’s economy, warning that a shortage of hotel space for tourists could harm business in the already struggling hospitality sector.
Crossings by undocumented migrants at the southern border have dropped from a peak of 250,000 in December to 58,000 in August, and city authorities said the number being sheltered has now fallen for 14 weeks in a row.
On Wednesday it said it had begun dismantling the notorious Randall’s Island shelter which was once the city’s biggest with 3,000 beds and where one migrant was stabbed to death in a fight in January.
