I have a room at an inn in New York City.
The president of the NYC Hotel Association said Thursday that operators are ready for thousands of immigrants to flood New York City, boosting Mayor Eric Adams' war of words. with Texas Governor Greg Abbott.
Vijay Dandapani, president of a group representing nearly 300 hotels, said the hotel will help the homeless, frontline health workers, and protect the recovery of coronavirus patients. He likened the immigration crisis to the COVID-19 pandemic.requiring quarantine.
“The DHS [Department of Homeless Services] has contacted many potential suppliers for a bid to provide hotel rooms. At this point, HANYC is ready to help through the hotel community, as many in shelters during COVID moved to hotels. to," Dandapani told The Post.
The Hotel Trades Council, representing 37,000 hotel employees, is also participating in discussions with hotel operators and city councils.
"HTC's members are largely made up of immigrant families, and we share a common history of immigrant families being bussed to New York," said union president Rich Maroko. said. “As ambassadors of the hospitality industry, we welcome them with open arms and are proud to continue working with the city to provide safe havens so that difficult journeys can have a happy ending.
Maroko accompanied Adams to meet a bus of immigrants arriving at the Port Authority Bus Terminal earlier this month. HTCwas the first major unionto back Adams' candidacy for mayor last year.
There are currently 125,000 hotel rooms in the city, with an occupancy rate of about 80%, according to the union.
That means 25,000 unused hotel rooms, helping to prevent the influx of people across the border.
But that alone is not enough.
The outbreak of COVID-19 has devastated the hospitality industry. 90 hotels went out of business and19,000 roomswere lost in a huge amount of inventory.
The Post Wednesday reported an urgent request for an additional 5,000 rooms to house immigrants traveling bybuses. Reported to have issued. Cities in Texas and Arizona.
According to the emergency request, DHS relies heavily on "commercial hotels or other similar establishments" to provide rooms to families with children, couples without children, and individuals.
City Hall estimates that more than 4,000 immigrants, many of whom are seeking asylum, in the last weeks, have sought asylum. The feud between Abbottand Adams, who have already arrived in the borough and are running for re-election this fall in high profile.
Price tag on home unknown, but at least tens of millions of dollars. Hotel room rates are higher than they were at the peak of the pandemic, when tourism was non-existent and virtually all rooms were available, industry insiders said.
In October 2020, The Post reported that he was spending more than $300 million for the city to house homeless families in hotels instead of barrack-like shelters. reportedly spent.
