A hotel in a hip neighborhood in New York City (NYC) has been quiet about the fact it has been transformed into a migrant shelter that was bought and paid for by Democratic NYC Mayor Eric Adams’ administration.
Located in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, the 55-room Hotel Le Jolie has been home to migrant families with children thanks to a $12,300,000 emergency contract funded by the NYC Department of Homeless Services (DHS) — which went into effect at some point last year, according to The New York Post.
The news regarding the change has not been reported until months after the boutique hotel underwent the initial transition.
REPORT: Hotel Le Jolie in New York City has been quietly converted into emergency housing for migrants over the past several months
Mayor Eric Adams’ administration recently awarded a $12.3 million emergency contract to a not-for-profit social service provider to operate a “city… pic.twitter.com/2ChwA1HsNQ
— Unlimited L’s (@unlimited_ls) April 29, 2024
The nature of the contract was described as the hotel building providing a “city sanctuary facility for families with children,” the outlet reported. (RELATED: ‘Worst Government Blunder’: Cuomo Rips Federal Government Over NYC Migrant Crisis)
The said shelter is supposed to serve migrants only temporarily, the outlet reported.
A source told the Post that the shelter has been managed by St. P.A.U.L.S. Inc., an independent mission house organization that provides food and shelter for the homeless in the name of Christian values, according to its website.
“They are having St. P.A.U.L.S. take over the operation. Nothing functionally changes,” the unnamed source said.
But the fact that the hotel hasn’t been opening its doors to paying customers had been kept under the rug for an extended period of time.
When someone asked if the hotel was open for business on the Hotel Le Jolie Facebook page, their question was met with no response, the Post noted.
On TripAdvisor, the last response from a staff member to a customer was posted back in April 2023.
“This is not a new site — has been open for quite some time,” a DHS spokesperson told the Post, speaking on the Williamsburg location.
Williamsburg is renowned for its “hipster vibe” and is home to NYC’s “trendiest” restaurants and nightclubs, according to a neighborhood profile via nyctourism.com. (RELATED: Police Seize Meth, Coke Worth More Than $1M Stashed In Ritzy NYC Apartment)
culture converges so fast now, 80% of women in williamsburg dress exactly the same 80% of the time. pic.twitter.com/wKiJ9CgBW6
— signüll (@signulll) April 28, 2024
Hotel Le Jolie is one of more than 100 other hotels based in and around the Big Apple that have given the green light to provide emergency shelter services on behalf of the city to combat the ongoing migrant crisis.
By the next fiscal year, financial analysts at NYC City Hall foresee that the said crisis could cost taxpayers a total of $10 billion, the Post concluded.