This archive report was first published on 3 October 2021.
As the city grapples with a homelessness crisis, Eric Adams, the likely next mayor of New York City, has proposed a plan to convert empty hotels into supportive housing. This initiative aims to provide assistance to people struggling with mental illness, substance abuse, and those leaving the prison system.
According to Adams, the city's current situation presents a 'once-in-a-lifetime opportunity' to address the homelessness crisis. He believes that converting hotels into supportive housing can provide affordable and quality housing for those in need.
Adams' plan involves converting over 20% of the city's closed hotels, which is estimated to be around 25,000 rooms. However, he plans to focus on boroughs outside Manhattan, where the number of rooms in closed hotels is smaller.
It is unclear whether there is any overlap between Adams' plan and the existing initiatives by the current mayor, Bill de Blasio, and the former governor, Andrew M. Cuomo, to build 25,000 supportive housing units by 2030. A spokesman for Adams' campaign stated that Adams is also considering converting rooms in former hotels that have already become homeless shelters into permanent supportive-housing apartments.
Adams believes that creating studio apartments in existing hotels is far cheaper and faster than building affordable housing from scratch. He has been a proponent of modernized single room occupancy hotels, or S.R.O.s, which have been making a comeback in other cities.
Several advocates for homeless people and supportive housing have endorsed Adams' plan, including Laura Mascuch, executive director of the Supportive Housing Network of New York. Mascuch stated, 'Adams can be the mayor who uses this inflection moment to change the trajectory on homelessness.'
