Just months after Mayor deBlasio announced a plan to phase out the use of hotels to house homeless people by 2023, 19 rooms inside the Kew Gardens Comfort Inn became temporary homes for several single homeless men over the weekend.

The hotel which occupies the first floors of a high-end apartment tower has 84 rooms.  The city reserved 42.

Richard Rosenthal’s law practice is just a block from the hotel.

“It doesn’t add to the vitality of the neighborhood,“ said Rosenthal.

Department of Homeless Services officials say this district has zero traditional shelter space to house the more than 300 people in need.  

They say the hotel will be used only as a temporary space until a suitable shelter can be identified. 

Haim Dadi, who brokers for the property right next door, says he’s already getting an earful from his tenants.

“They wanted to move out from the building and they’re asking many questions, is it safe?“ said Dadi.

This is not the first time the city has quietly placed homeless people in hotels. 

Last October, residents in Maspeth were shocked to learn that homeless people were placed inside a Holiday Inn Express.

Around the same time, residents in the North Bronx learned that the Van Cortlandt Motel had been housing homeless for months.

“Where ever they do this residents do not get a say, “ said Queens City Councilwoman Karen Koslowitz. 

   Reporter: “Is that fair?”

   Koslowitz: “No, it’s not fair.”

Koslowitz, whose district the hotel is in, says her office was only notified about the move on Friday afternoon, right before the start of Yom Kippur.

The council member says she supports legislation that would require the city to give more notice to communities about putting homeless residents in hotels.

Meantime, Koslowitz has contacted the Mayor’s office asking for more police patrols around the hotel.

She’s highly critical of the move, especially the cost to the taxpayer.

“To be here for one month it’s anywhere from between $4,600 and $5,300.  They could live on Park Avenue for that amount of money,’’ said Koslowitz.

Our calls to hotel officials have not yet been returned.