Exclusive | NYC inks $1B no-bid shelter contract with hotels to house the 86K migrants still remaining despite claims crisis is easing

The Adams administration has inked a nearly $1 billion no-bid contract with the hotel industry for emergency shelter space — despite boasting that the migrant crisis is tapering off, The Post has learned.Taxpayers are on the hook for the $929.1 million reupped with the Hotel Association of New York City Foundation as the total city population still includes a whopping 86,000 people, including homeless individuals and asylum seekers.“These hotel units will be used by social services vendors to house emergency shelter clients who have entered the [Department of Homeless Services] shelter system,” the agency said in a notice posted Wednesday.The reupped contract took effect in January and runs through June 30, 2026.It was awarded via “negotiated acquisition” – meaning it was not put out for competitive bids.

The initial contract was negotiated through the end of 2025, as previously reported by The Post.The move is a head-scratcher, said Nicole Gelinas, senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute.“Why do we need to be using so many hotels for day to day homeless management?,” Gelinas said.“This is turning an emergency program into a permanent program and taking a block of hotel rooms off the tourist market while people complain the city’s hotel room costs are so high.”Gelinas said the city should have made hotels bid against each other instead of treating the hospitality industry “as a monopoly” with a sole source contract.Under the new contract, it’s up to the Hotel Association as a “fiscal agent” of the program to connect the city with hotels that are willing to set aside rooms to shelter homeless individuals and families in exchange for rental payments.The overall cost to house migrants per night is $352 — including $130 to hotels for the room rental, city officials said last year.

The association takes a “nominal fee” for administrative expenses, its CEO said.“This agreement is an extension of the non-profit HANYC foundation’...