The city has stopped using two hotels sheltering migrants in the Big Apple — with many other locations to be phased out in the coming months, The Post has learned.
The 23-room Hotel Merit in Times Square and the 73-room Quality Inn JFK Airport are the first hotels the city has stopped using as emergency shelters as the influx of migrants into the five boroughs has significantly slowed.
“We’ve come a long way since the first buses from Texas arrived in our city over two years ago, when we were working around the clock to care for the thousands of people who were arriving every week,” a spokesperson for Mayor Eric Adams said.
Resettlement efforts and other resources have helped get 170,000 migrants out of the shelter system and onto the next step, the administration noted.
“And thanks to our advocacy efforts on the federal level and executive orders issued by the Biden-Harris administration, we continue to see a decline in the number of people entering our shelter system every week,” the spokesperson added. “Our staff is on hand to help guests plan for next steps as the city consolidates its operations.”
The overall costs to house migrants per night is $352 — including $130 to hotels for the room rental and separate payments social service, food and cleaning costs.
Hotel Merit — at 414 West 46th Street between 9th and 10th Ave — had been used as a shelter for migrant families with children since July 2023 before it was phased out Nov. 4, city officials said.
New York stopped using the Quality Inn at 153-95 Rockaway Boulevard in Jamaica, Queens as a shelter for migrant families last week. It had been in use since June 2023.
Mayor Eric Adams’ administration has been able to begin reducing where asylum seekers are housed as the migrant population declines and many residents move out of the shelters.
From Oct. 28 to November 3, more than 700 new migrants entered the city, while more than 1,000 departed.
The migrant shelter population has plummeted from 69,000 in January to 58,000 currently.
And in December, the city will close all 10 of its migrant shelters upstate in Albany, Dutchess, Erie, Orange, and Westchester counties, officials said.
The city also plans to close Randall’s Island as a massive migrant encampment in February after dramatically cutting back the number of migrants sheltered there
Still, the Adams administration plans to continue the use of hotels as emergency shelters for the foreseeable future.
The Department of Homeless Services is seeking a contract with hotels to provide a total of 14,000 rooms to shelter migrants over the next few years.
About 150 hotels are currently sheltering migrants and total spending on migrant services over three years will hit $6.1 billion, according to city data.
The city projects that spending on housing for migrants over the past two years and this fiscal year combined will surpass a staggering $2.41billion — much of it on rent paid to hotels in the Big Apple.
But City Hall on Sunday said the Big Apple is receiving immediate taxpayer savings when hotels are no longer used as emergency shelters.
Under the terms of the contract with the Hotel Merit and Quality Inn, payments cease after the city clears out — as long as officials give 30 days notice of a phase-out, which they did, a mayoral spokesperson said.
Vijay Dandapani, president and CEO of the Hotel Association of NYC, confirmed the contract terms.
“I cannot comment on individual hotels, but the City has the right to terminate a contract with a hotel with 30 days notice. There would be no reason for the payments to continue if there are no migrants, as the contract will be terminated,” Dandapani said.
Critics have said President-elect Donald Trump’s resounding victory over Vice President Kamala Harris last week was fueled in part by the border crisis under the Biden administration.
Trump has promised to stiffen security at the border and launch a massive deportation campaign to remove illegal immigrants.
Adams also imposed 30-day limit stays for individuals and 60-days stays for families in shelters to provide relief to the beleaguered shelter system, though asylum seekers can reapply. They city also helps migrants apply for asylum.
