New York City Relying on Hotels to House the Homeless

Throughout 2016, New York City has expanded the practice of renting hotel rooms to house homeless people. Now the city is looking for a vendor to shoulder some of the work of finding rooms for those in need.

1 minute read

December 25, 2016, 9:00 AM PST

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


Homeless in New York City

Leonard Zhukovsky / Shutterstock

Laura Nahmias, Brendan Cheney, and Dana Rubinstein report: "The de Blasio administration is looking for vendors to take over the job of finding hotel rooms in bulk for homeless New Yorkers, even as Mayor Bill de Blasio says he views hotels as a temporary, less-than-desirable solution to the city’s homelessness crisis."

The city recently released a request for proposals to find vendors able to take on the job. According to officials from the city's Department of Homeless Services, having vendors do the job saves the city money. "The city currently spends $400,000 each day to house about 7,200 people in 3,300 hotel rooms. The city’s use of hotels has expanded dramatically over the past year," according to the article.

The practice of using hotel rooms for the homeless has several prominent critics, including Department of Social Services Commissioner Steven Banks in this quote from the New York Times in 1991: "For the city to be using the Yellow Pages to find commercial hotels for families flies in the face of everything we know about how to solve this problem." Mayor Bill de Blasio has also said that the practice is a temporary measure, though the city has no plan for ending the practice.

Thursday, December 22, 2016 in Politico New York

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Cover CM Credits, Earn Certificates, Push Your Career Forward

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

June 11, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

Rendering of Shirley Chisholm Village four-story housing development with person biking in front.

San Francisco's School District Spent $105M To Build Affordable Housing for Teachers — And That's Just the Beginning

SFUSD joins a growing list of school districts using their land holdings to address housing affordability challenges faced by their own employees.

June 8, 2025 - Fast Company

Yellow single-seat Japanese electric vehicle drivign down road.

The Tiny, Adorable $7,000 Car Turning Japan Onto EVs

The single seat Mibot charges from a regular plug as quickly as an iPad, and is about half the price of an average EV.

June 6, 2025 - PC Magazine

Two people walking away from camera through pedestrian plaza in street in Richmond, Virginia with purple and white city bus moving in background.

Vehicle-related Deaths Drop 29% in Richmond, VA

The seventh year of the city's Vision Zero strategy also cut the number of people killed in alcohol-related crashes by half.

30 minutes ago - WRIC

White Waymo autonomous car driving fast down city street with blurred background at night.

Seattle's Plan for Adopting Driverless Cars

Equity, safety, accessibility and affordability are front of mind as the city prepares for robotaxis and other autonomous vehicles.

June 16 - Smart Cities Dive

Two small wooden one-story homes in Florida with floodwaters at their doors.

As Trump Phases Out FEMA, Is It Time to Flee the Floodplains?

With less federal funding available for disaster relief efforts, the need to relocate at-risk communities is more urgent than ever.

June 16 - Governing