The Messenger: Migrant Influx Is Helping New York’s Hotel Industry Make a Comeback
By NICK GALLAGHER
July 31, 2023 09:58 AM
Some of the 70,000 migrants who have been sent from Texas and Florida to New York City over the past several months are giving the city an unexpected financial benefit by taking up residence in hotels.
The Big Apple’s hotel industry is flourishing — mostly due to a strong post-pandemic rebound in tourism — but also thanks in part to the city paying some 100 hotels to temporarily house migrants, the New York Post reported.
Commercial real-estate Investors told the Post that hotels are now thought of as far more valuable assets compared with offices, as employees continue to work remotely in the wake of the pandemic.
Travel bans had decimated the hotel industry over the past several years, forcing many hotels to either declare bankruptcy or close entirely.
Some hotels, including the Roosevelt near Grand Central Terminal and the Holiday Inn in the Financial District, have been converted entirely into migrant housing, while others contract with the city on a month-to-month basis.
Still, New York’s hotel industry continues to trail behind London and Paris, which saw more hotel guests in 2022 than in 2019. And insiders like Vijay Dandapani, CEO of the Hotel Association of New York City, warned that only a “small subset of prospective and current hotel owners” plan to purchase or build new properties.
As of May, about 100 hotels and other establishments were under contract with Mayor Eric Adams’ administration to house more than 10,000 migrants, many of whom had been sent by authorities in Texas and Florida after crossing into the U.S. to seek asylum.
Migrant housing and support could cost the city roughly $4 billion over the next two years, including one recent $275 million deal with hotels.
With up to 500 people arriving each day, Adams warned earlier this month that the city was at capacity and would need state or federal financial assistance in order to continue hosting new migrants. Adams said the city would start moving individuals from some shelters in order to make room for families arriving with children.