New York City’s taxpayers are footing a staggering $929.1 million bill for a questionable no-bid contract with hotels to house homeless and illegal migrants, despite Mayor Eric Adams’ claims that the migrant crisis is easing.
Key Takeaways
- The Adams administration has signed a nearly $1 billion no-bid contract with the Hotel Association of New York City Foundation to provide emergency shelter space through June 2026.
- The city is paying an exorbitant $352 per night to house each migrant, with $130 going directly to hotels for room rental.
- The contract bypassed competitive bidding through a “negotiated acquisition” process, raising serious questions about fiscal responsibility.
- New York City has already spent $3.12 billion on shelter and related costs for migrants since 2022.
- President Trump’s stricter border policies have reduced new migrant arrivals, yet the city continues to rely on emergency shelter.
Billion-Dollar Burden on NYC Taxpayers
While President Trump’s administration has successfully reduced the flow of illegal migrants across our southern border, New York City continues to drain taxpayer resources with extravagant spending on migrant housing. The Adams administration recently inked a massive $929.1 million contract with the Hotel Association of New York City Foundation to provide emergency shelter space through June 2026. This enormous financial commitment comes despite decreasing numbers of new migrant arrivals and claims by city officials that the crisis is abating. The contract began retroactively in January 2023, meaning New Yorkers have already been funding this arrangement for over a year without proper public scrutiny.
The city’s approach to securing this contract raises serious concerns about fiscal responsibility and transparency. Rather than pursuing a competitive bidding process to ensure taxpayers receive the best possible value, officials used a “negotiated acquisition” approach that effectively handed a billion-dollar deal to a single entity without exploring alternatives. This type of procurement method is typically reserved for emergencies where time constraints make standard bidding impractical, yet the city has had ample time to develop more cost-effective, long-term solutions for housing the homeless and migrants who have already been in the system for years.
“Why do we need to be using so many hotels for day-to-day homeless management?” Nicole Gelinas, Senior Fellow at the Manhattan Institute
Astronomical Costs Per Night
The financial details of this arrangement are nothing short of shocking. New York City taxpayers are shelling out a staggering $352 per night to house each migrant, with $130 of that sum going directly to hotels for room rental. This rate far exceeds what most working Americans can afford for their accommodations, yet it’s being lavished on non-citizens who have entered the country illegally. For perspective, this equates to over $10,500 per month for a single migrant, an amount that exceeds the monthly mortgage payments of many middle-class families across America. Since 2022, the total expenditure on migrant shelter and related costs has ballooned to an astronomical $3.12 billion.
The Hotel Association claims to function merely as a fiscal agent connecting the city with hotels willing to provide rooms, taking only a nominal fee for administrative expenses. However, this arrangement raises questions about accountability and oversight in how these massive sums are being distributed. The city’s decision to route nearly a billion dollars through a third-party organization rather than contracting directly with housing providers deserves intense scrutiny, particularly when the costs are so exorbitant compared to market rates for long-term accommodations.
“This agreement is an extension of the non-profit HANYC foundation’s ongoing work since COVID to connect city funding with hotels to address New York’s need to provide emergency services to the homeless,” Vijay Dandapani, CEO of the Hotel Association of New York City
Crisis Claims Contradicted by Continued Spending
The Adams administration’s actions directly contradict their narrative about the state of the migrant crisis. While city officials claim the situation is improving and have phased out some emergency shelters as new arrivals decrease under President Trump’s strengthened border policies, they simultaneously commit to spending nearly a billion additional dollars on hotel rooms. This disconnect suggests either profound fiscal mismanagement or a deliberate attempt to funnel taxpayer money to private interests regardless of actual need. The number of people in New York City shelters has certainly increased since pre-pandemic levels, but extending a billion-dollar contract through 2026 indicates the city expects this emergency to persist for years.
Adding to the controversy, the Trump administration recently withdrew $80.5 million in federal funding that had been allocated to reimburse the city at a rate of $12.50 per night for each hotel room. Mayor Adams has filed a lawsuit seeking to recover these funds, but the stark difference between the federal reimbursement rate ($12.50) and what the city is actually paying ($130 just for the room) highlights the extravagance of New York’s approach. City officials have vehemently denied federal claims that migrants were housed in luxury accommodations, yet the per-night costs suggest otherwise. American citizens struggling with inflation and housing costs have every right to question why their tax dollars are funding such generous arrangements for non-citizens.
“As the city’s shelter system was pushed to its limits following an influx of new arrivals, the Adams administration acted quickly and decisively to effectively address the crisis and acquire emergency shelter capacity to serve households in need” – Department of Social Services/Homeless Services spokesman.
