NYC transforms another boutique hotel into a migrant shelter as industry boss issues major warning about the future of the Big Apple's tourism sector

A boutique hotel boasting a 'timeless and sophisticated style' has been quietly turned over to asylum seekers as fears grow over whether New York's tourist market can ever recover.

Visitors logging onto the website for Hotel Le Jolie in Brooklyn are promised 'cutting-edge technology to make your stay comfortable and convenient'.

But the 55-room hotel in upmarket Williamsburg is now among 110 across the city providing emergency shelter to some of the 180,000 migrants who have arrived in New York since the spring of 2022.

And hotel bosses have warned that they will struggle to return rooms currently housing migrants in a fit state for the millions of tourists who keep the economy afloat.

'They're going to need renovations,' said Vijay Dandapani of the Hotel Association of New York City (HANYC). 'It's great news for construction people, but it's not such great news if you're a current hotel owner.'

The 55-room boutique hotel near the East River in upmarket Williamsburg is among 110 that have been turned over to asylum seekers across New York City 

More than 180,000 migrants have arrived in the city since the spring of 2022, many of them bussed from the Mexican border by southern state governors 

Visitors logging onto the website for Hotel Le Jolie in Brooklyn are promised 'cutting-edge technology to make your stay comfortable and convenient'

The city's Department of Homeless Services awarded housing charity St Pauls a $12.3 million emergency contract to housing charity to covert the building into a shelter for migrant families last year, it has emerged.

'They are having St Pauls take over the operation. Nothing functionally changes,' a spource told the New York Post.

Tent cities have sprung up in Floyd Bennett Field, Creedmoor Psychiatric Center and on the grounds of Kennedy Airport in a bid to cope with the migrant surge.

Mayor Eric Adams estimated last year that half the hotels rooms in the city were occupied by migrants in a crisis he warned would 'destroy' New York.

HANYC estimates that 16,000 hotel rooms have been taken off the market to be used as shelters over the past year, and that many will never return to their former use.

Adams predicts that New York City will spend $12 billion over the next three years to handle the influx, and taxpayers are now forking out an average of $387 per day per single migrant household to shelter them.

He has cut shelter stay limits to between 30 and 60 days in a bid to reduce the strain on the city finances.

But he has issued prepaid debit cards to migrant families as part of a controversial scheme that could see them receive up to $18,200 a year. 

There are currently 65,000 migrants being housed across 214 emergency shelter sites in the city, and more than 1,000 protested outside City Hall this month demanding more aid, better accommodation and work permits.

But departments including education, libraries and social services have seen ten percent cuts in their budgets and the city is aiming to cut the FDNY budget by $74 million by the end of 2025 in order make way for additional spending on migrants.

And tensions have boiled over among migrants struggling to survive with one stabbed to death during a fight at a tent city on Randall's Island in January.

More than a dozen were involved in a street brawl outside the Row Hotel on Eighth Avenue, on April 21 with one swinging a baseball bat and another battered on the ground by four attackers.

Earlier this month another $2.4billion was earmarked for the city in the New York State budget but Adams has slammed the lack of support from the Biden White House for 'one of the largest humanitarian crises this city has ever experienced.'

'We are exceptionally proud of the dignity and respect we've been able to provide these migrants, as well as everyone else in our care,' he said.

The hotel's Facebook page boasts of its 'timeless and sophisticated style'

NYC Mayor Eric Adams has slammed the lack of support from the Biden White House for 'one of the largest humanitarian crises this city has ever experienced.

'But, make no mistake, New York City should have never been left largely on its own to manage this national humanitarian crisis.'

It comes as tourist levels in the Big Apple finally look set to recover from their pandemic slump.

The city received 62.2 million visitors in 2023, reaching 93 percent of 2019's levels, and that number is expected to rise to as many as 64.5 million tourists this year.

Immigration has emerged as a top voter concern, especially among Republicans ahead of the November 5 election pitting Biden, a Democrat, against his Republican predecessor, Donald Trump.

Trump says Biden's less restrictive policies have led to a rise in illegal immigration.

The White House in recent months has considered issuing executive orders to stop migrants at the southern frontier if crossings hit a threshold, sparking criticism from some Democrats and campaigners.