The city plans to spend nearly $1.1 billion to house the homeless in commercial hotels over the next three years, officials said Tuesday.
While the de Blasio administration had been relying on a last-minute emergency-based system for booking hotel stays, the controversial practice was only recently formalized into three-year contracts totaling $364 million per year.
Those costs will include a range of support services for families housed in the units, which often lack kitchens, including the purchase of refrigerators and microwaves.
“Our spending on hotels is absolutely alarming — and it’s one reason we have [the Department of Homeless Services] on our budget watch list,” Comptroller Scott Stringer said when asked about the contracts.
DHS officials testified at a City Council hearing that the spending is a temporary necessity caused by a boost in the hotel population while the agency vacates 3,600 scattered apartments for the homeless.
The average spent on a hotel room will be $174 per night, the officials said.