By New York Post (U.S.) | Created at 2026-08-02 23:55:50 | Updated at 2026-08-03 00:46:25
1 hour ago
The Mamdani administration re-upped a $1.86 billion contract that will see hotels across the five boroughs provide emergency space for the homeless.
The three-year- contract with the Hotel Association of New York City Foundation, which represents nearly 300 hotels, runs from July 1 of this year through June 30, 2029.
“Over the last 15 years, [the Department of Homeless Services] has faced numerous crises that forced it to rely on commercial hotels to temporarily house clients,” a DHS spokesperson said.
“DHS is focused not only on upholding New York City’s right to shelter but improving outcomes for all the New Yorkers we serve,” the spokesperson added. “As such, we continue to work to transform the city’s shelter system by opening new, high-quality shelters while gradually phasing out the use of commercial hotels for families with children.”
But the city has to continue to maintain capacity during the transition under “Right to Shelter Laws” which mandate access for anyone seeking shelter in the city. There were 82,929 adults and children in Big Apple shelters as of July 31, according to the department.
“By exercising the renewal option of the agency’s master contract with HANYC, DHS will be able to retain critical hotel capacity, as needed, while we work to bring more traditional capacity online, reduce reliance on hotels, and rightsize our shelter footprint over the coming years,” the spokesperson said.
The hotels will only be activated as shelters if needed and the DHS representative emphasized that the city may not spend the full $1.86 billion allotment.
The city relied heavily on using hotels for emergency shelter to help curb COVID-19 during the height of the pandemic shutdown and continued to utilize the space during a migrant crisis where thousands of asylum seekers were bused into the Big Apple.
About 150 hotels, motels and inns were converted to shelters during the peak of the migrants influx.
The hotel association said the original contract was finalized in January 2025 after the group beat out dozens of other bidders.
“It is a continuation of HANYC’s well-documented role as a responsible stakeholder since the COVID crisis when the organization moved, pro-bono, over 18,000 people from shelters to hotels on an emergency basis from May 2020 to December 2021,” said Vijay Dandapani, CEO of HANYC.
Meanwhile, DHS awarded two other contracts valued at more than $87 million combined to social service providers as part of its “Integrated Commercial Hotels Program.”
Housing Works was awarded $47.2 million and Neighbors 4 Neighbors $40.28 million to assist homeless individuals and families sheltered in the hotels with their daily needs.
Critics have complained that New York City has among the highest hotel rates in the country — and taking thousands of rooms offline doesn’t help make the tourist-reliant metropolis more affordable.
But advocates combating homelessness said the reliance on hotels was an unfortunate necessity.
“The City’s use of hotels to serve as emergency shelters is obviously far from ideal. But given that the City has both a legal and moral obligation to provide shelter to all in need, it must make sure that they have enough beds,” David Giffen, executive director of the Coalition for the Homeless, previously told the Post.
He mentioned that numerous people froze to death on the streets last winter.
“The best way to end the use of hotels is to dramatically reduce the number of people who need shelters in the first place by building more housing that’s actually affordable to the lowest-income New Yorkers,” Giffen said.
