NEW YORK - City Comptroller Scott Stringer on Wednesday released a report that says the city is increasingly relying on commercial hotels to house people who are homeless, including paying more than $600 a night at some places in Times Square.
The Comptroller says the Department of Homeless Services is using hotel rooms to shelter nearly 6,000 homeless people, compared to just over 300 last year.
He says it comes to an "unprecedented" cost of $400,000 per day.
The most expensive rooms cost $629 per night. According to Stringer, 30 of them were booked for two days in September.
Over the course of the year, 815 bookings were made for $400 per night or higher.
The report also says many hotel units lack the kitchens, child care services, and other features available in traditional shelters.
In a statement, Stringer said said the city needs to develop a "comprehensive, transparent roadmap" to address the city's homeless housing efforts. He added, "The city promised to end its reliance on both cluster sites and hotels – and we are no doubt trending in the wrong direction. The city is not moving the needle on this extraordinary problem, and that’s why we continue to speak out."
During his campaign, Mayor Bill de Blasio promised to end the use of commercial hotels to house the homeless.
In a statement, the mayor's office said the city is making "every attempt to keep costs low", adding they "take considerable efforts to keep homeless New Yorkers near their support services, even when those services are in Manhattan."