For months, a hotel in one of New York City’s nicest districts has secretly served as emergency housing for migrants.
Mayor Eric Adams’ administration recently approved a $12.3 million emergency contract with a non-profit social service provider to operate a “city sanctuary facility for families with children” at 235 Meeker Ave. in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, which is also the address of the Hotel Le Jolie.
Related posts
The Department of Homeless Services awarded the contract to St. P.A.U.L.S. Inc. of Brooklyn to manage the facility.
Hotel Le Jolie served as a temporary shelter for migrant families last year.
“They’re having the St. P.A.U.L.S. take over the operations.” Nothing functional has changed,” a source familiar with the shelter operation stated over the weekend.
According to the source, DHS was deploying temporary staff at the site in hopes that the non-profit organization would provide better services to migrant families.
When asked if the hotel had rooms available for tourists, the individual answering the phone at the site reported it was closed for “renovations.”.
Last November, a visitor to the hotel’s Facebook page asked, “Is the Hotel Le Jolie closed or still open for business?”
There was no response.
In April of last year, the hotel staff submitted their final responses to Tripadvisor reviews for the 55-room boutique accommodations.
Given the capacity of the shelter system, the city has had to explore unconventional methods to accommodate the influx of refugees.
Last August, the Adams administration opened a shelter at the famed McCarren Park on the Williamsburg-Greenpoint border.
When queried about the new contract for migrants residing at Hotel Le Jolie, a Department of Homeless Services representative stated, “This is not a new site; it has been open for quite some time.”
The Post contacted Hotel Le Jolie management and St. P.A.U.L.S. for comment.
The immigration issue has been a benefit to Big Apple hotels, which are still suffering from tourism losses caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
More than 100 hotels have agreed to become emergency shelters for migrant families and individuals who have flooded the city from the southern border, with the government paying for the rooms.
In January, the Adams administration signed a new $76.69 million emergency contract with the Hotel Association of New York City to offer “last resort” accommodation for migrant families.
Under the arrangement, 15 hotels in Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx will provide blocks of rooms to asylum-seeking families for up to 28 days as part of a “vouchering program” that runs until July.
Last September, The Post reported that the city renewed contracts with the hotel association for three years at a staggering cost of $1.3 billion—nearly five times the original $275 million arrangement—simply to pay rental fees to the massive network of hotels converted into emergency shelters.
Adams has taken steps to reduce rising migrant costs by establishing 30- and 60-day shelter stay restrictions for individuals and families, respectively.
Since spring 2022, about 200,000 migrants have landed in New York City, overwhelming the city’s shelter population and forcing the Department of Homeland Security to rely on hotels and set up enormous tent cities at Floyd Bennett Field, Creedmoor Psychiatric Center, and Kennedy Airport.
New York City spends an average of $387 a day to lodge a single migrant household in taxpayer-funded shelters, according to current City Hall figures.
City Hall warned that the cost of combating the migrant problem could exceed $10 billion during the next fiscal year.
The recently passed state budget gives the city $2.4 billion to help fund migrant costs, but the federal government has provided little financial assistance.
