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NYC hotel in trendy location quietly gets converted into migrant shelter

April 29, 2024 | | Print Article

A hotel in a trendy area of New York City is the latest location being used to stuff full of Gotham’s new arrivals, having been converted into an emergency housing shelter for migrants.

According to the New York Post, Mayor Eric Adams’ administration doled out a $12.3 million emergency contract to a nonprofit provider for running a “city sanctuary facility for families with children” located at 235 Meeker Avenue in the Williamsburg area, a popular Brooklyn location for dining and nightlife.

The address is the same one for the Hotel Le Jolie which was converted into a temporary shelter for illegal aliens sometime last year.

The contract was issued by the city’s Department of Homeless Services to Brooklyn-based St. P.A.U.L.S. Inc. to manage the new emergency shelter for foreign families.

“They are having St. P.A.U.L.S. take over the operation. Nothing functionally changes,” the Post quoted an unnamed source who is “familiar with the shelter operation” in its report.

The source told the outlet that the agency was using temporary employees to staff the hotel and hoped that the not-for-profit organization would be able to provide an upgrade in services for the newcomers.

When a call was placed to the hotel for room availability for tourists, the person who answered said that the Hotel Le Jolie was closed for “renovations,” the New York Post reported. A Facebook user on the hotel’s page asked “Is the Hotel Le Jolie closed or still open for business?” which as of Monday morning, has not received an official reply.

There have also been no staff replies posted on Tripadvisor since last April, according to the paper.

With the city’s shelter system being overwhelmed by illegals, the Adams administration has had to use creativity to find places to put up the migrants, many of whom have been drawn to the city because of its generous freebies, including lodging in posh hotels.

In January, the city signed a $77 million deal with the Hotel Association of New York City that will make blocks of rooms at fifteen hotels in Brooklyn, The Bronx, and Queens available to migrant families seeking asylum for up to 28 days under the “vouchering program” that runs through July.

Reactions from X users were less than positive about Mayor Adams’ scheme.

“Hotel Le Jolie puts you within a 10-minute drive of Barclays Center Brooklyn and New York University. You’ll have free perks like WiFi and self parking. Also, 5th Avenue and Wall Street are within a short drive. Fellow travelers say good things about the helpful staff and location,” according to Hotels.com.

Chris Donaldson
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