A modern four-star hotel in Long Island City has now become a haven for migrants like the Big Apple escapes to welcome the swarm of asylum seekers arriving in the city — even as Gov. Kathy Hochul said she would meet with federal officials Sunday in an effort to ease pressure on the Big Apple.
That did little to quell concerns in Long Island City, where locals complained that the hotel’s new “guests” were ruining their neighborhood.
The industrial-chic Collective Paper Factory hotel, which was once home to a historic paper mill, began housing migrants on Friday after becoming an emergency shelter for families from the Department of Services for the Homeless, City officials confirmed to The Post on Saturday.
Workers at the hotel-turned-shelter, located at 37-06 36th Street, said 16 families have already moved in as plans are in place to fill all of its 125 loft-style rooms with asylum seekers .
The five-story building also includes a gym, common areas, meeting rooms, a bar and a restaurant.
“It’s no longer a hotel, it’s a shelter for asylum seekers and families,” a staff member told The Post.
Mayor Eric Adams’ office would not say how many migrants they expect to stay at the once-funky hotel.
Concerned neighbors, however, have already complained about their new neighbors.
A man, who lives next to the new shelter, said the migrants are drinking and throwing rubbish in the street.
“There’s already litter in the streets — Coca Cola cans and bottles. It’s just a day later,” the resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told The Post.
“I saw a family of five last night [or] six kids, a mom and a dad sitting in their cars with some friends having a few beers, and I was walking my dog down the street and a little boy was saying, “Ugh! Ugh!’ to my dog,” he said.
“What are the regulations for them to come here? Are there background checks? I don’t know”, he continued.
“It just makes us nervous. We don’t want the whole block to become a hangout.”
Michael Cohen, owner of a nearby 85-unit rent-stabilized apartment building, he told the Queens/LIC Post who is “horrified” by the city’s decision to turn the 4-star hotel into a migrant shelter.
The Queens/LIC Post first reported Friday that the hotel was being converted into housing for homeless asylum seekers.
“This use of this building is taking the neighborhood in the exact opposite direction, given all the time, energy, zoning changes and financial investments that have gone into it, even from the city Cohen said.
“I am appalled by this action by this city because it is contrary to everything that has happened in the area in the last 15 years.”
The median one-bedroom rent in Long Island City costs $3,956, more than any other Queens borough, according to a June report from MNS Real Estate.
The median condo in the neighborhood sold for $989,677 in the second quarter of 2023, although that represented a 6.3% drop from a year earlier, according to a report from runner Ryan Serhant.
More than 100,000 asylum seekers have arrived in New York City since last spring.
Almost 60,000 migrants are currently housed in 198 reception sites across the five boroughs, putting significant pressure on the Big Apples reception system.
In an attempt to ease the pressure, Mayor Eric Adams this week reached an agreement with Gov. Kathy Hochul to move 1,200 migrant families out of the city, the state’s most significant move to deal with the crisis. The Post reported Friday.
In an attempt to ease the pressure, Mayor Eric Adams struck a deal with Hochul this week to move 1,200 migrant families out of the city, the state’s biggest move yet to deal with the crisis. The Post reported Friday.
On Saturday, Hochul said he planned to meet with US Interior Department officials about the migrant mess on Sunday.
He said the state was also providing the Big Apple with a $250 million increase to help with migrant costs, part of a $1 billion “pledge” the governor said was allocated to the city in the 2024 budget.
The governor said the budget calls for Albany to reimburse New York City for 29 percent of costs incurred in the crisis, including security, staffing, transportation, food and supplies and cleanup.
“Since the asylum seekers arrived in New York, we have been providing significant humanitarian assistance as New York City works to fulfill its obligation to provide shelter,” Hochul said in a statement.
Migrants were already being hosted at several state-owned sites in the five boroughs, including JFK International Airport and the Creedmore Psychiatric Center in Queens, he added.
Hochul also said he was deploying more National Guard troops to shelters upstate, bringing the total number assigned to the migrant crisis to more than 1,800, including in more than 30 hotels in the city.
Additional reporting by Bernadette Hogan and Jorge Fitz-Gibbon
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