Exclusive | Mamdani administration inks $1.9B, 3-year contract to house homeless in NYC hotels

Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration has inked a new nearly $1.9 billion contract with the city’s hotel industry to provide emergency shelter to homeless families over the next three years, The Post has learned.The massive $1.86 billion deal comes despite the Big Apple no longer being heavily burdened by the migrant crisis that led then-Mayor Eric Adams to turn scores of hotels into temporary shelters to house the thousands of new arrivals.Mamdani also recently announced the shutdown of Manhattan’s largest men’s shelter — the city-owned 250-resident Bellevue facility on 30th Street.But even with the ebbing influx of migrants, the city is still grappling to shelter more than 100,000 people a night — the highest level since the Great Depression of the 1930s, according to the advocacy group Homes for the Homeless.At least 15 people froze to death outside during the winter’s cold snap in late January into February.The city Department of Homeless Services’ three-year contract is with the Hotel Association of New York City Foundation, representing nearly 300 of the Big Apple hotels.“The contract is for emergencies not migrants, and allows capacity to be created as-needed and the budget depends on that need,” said Vijay Dandapani, president and CEO of the Hotel Association.But one government watchdog said relying so heavily on hotels was a mistake.“It’s bad precedent.It’s basically a no-bid contract,” said Nicole Gelinas, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute think tank.“This is no longer using hotels for short-term emergencies,” she said.

“If we’re going to use hotels for shelter, they should compete against each other for price and not act as a cartel.”New York City has among the highest hotel rates in the country — and taking thousands of rooms offline doesn’t help make the tourist-reliant metropolis more affordable, Gelinas noted.DHS currently has a $929 million contract with the Hotel Association, running from Jan.1, 2...