New York City hotels left empty by the pandemic would be converted into “supportive accommodations” for people struggling with mental illness or substance abuse and people leaving the prison system as part of an am. proposed plan will offer a wide range of support Monday from Eric Adams, who will likely become the city’s next mayor.
More than 20 percent of the city’s hotels are now closed, says a business association. At the same time, the city is facing a homelessness crisis, in which the mood against the housing of the homeless in barrack-like accommodation and many seriously mentally ill who live on the streets is growing.
“The combination of Covid-19, the economic downturn and the problems we have with housing offers us a unique opportunity,” said Adams, who won the Mayor’s Democratic primary in June when he stood in front of a boarded hotel in Sunset Park in Brooklyn. “Don’t use these hotels as an eyesore, but as a place where people can see good, affordable, high-quality housing.”
Details of the plan were thin. Mr Adams mentioned the possibility of 25,000 converted hotel rooms but said he would focus on boroughs outside of Manhattan where the number of rooms in gated hotels is much lower.
He wasn’t sure if there was an overlap between his plan and what current Mayor Bill de Blasio and former New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo have already launched to create 25,000 supporting housing units in the city to be built around 2030. A campaign spokesman for Mr Adams said Mr Adams was also considering converting rooms in former hotels that have already become homeless shelters to permanent housing, which Mr de Blasio has also discussed.
The link between hotels and homelessness was controversial during the pandemic. At the start of the lockdown, which was imposed to contain the spread of the coronavirus, thousands of people who had lived in dormitories were transferred to hotel rooms, mostly in Manhattan, where their presence led to complaints from some residents about harassment and sometimes violence. The city has since returned most of these people to group accommodations.
Several homeless and supportive housing advocates supported Mr Adams’ plan and stood by him at the press conference. “Adams can be the mayor who uses this turning moment to change the direction of homelessness,” said Laura Mascuch, executive director of the Supportive Housing Network of New York, in an interview. “We look forward to working with Adams to deliver the nation’s strongest supportive housing program.”
