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NYC pursuing thousands of hotel rooms to house migrants amid multibillion-dollar costs: report

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NYC pursuing thousands of hotel rooms to house migrants amid multibillion-dollar costs: report

New York City reportedly wants 14,000 hotel rooms to house migrants through next year as the sanctuary city continues to spend billions on the fallout from the border crisis.

The New York Post reported the city’s use of hotels to house migrants will continue despite a significant drop in migrant encounters at the southern border, and the Department of Homeless Services is seeking a contract with hotels to provide a total of 14,000 rooms to shelter migrants. 

The Post reported that spending on housing over a three-year period will surpass $2.3 billion, with most of that spent on rent for hotels. Spending on the migrant crisis is expected exceed $5 billion, and Mayor Eric Adams has previously said costs could balloon to over $10 billion by the end of next fiscal year. Previous estimates had put that number even higher.

NEW YORK CITY MIGRANT CRISIS COSTS EXPECTED TO EXCEED $5B IN TWO-YEAR PERIOD – DOUBLE TO $10B BY 2025

New York City Mayor Eric Adams arrives at federal court after being charged with bribery and illegally soliciting a campaign contribution from a foreign national in New York City Oct. 2, 2024.  (Reuters/Caitlin Ochs)

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At an average of $352 per night for at least 36,939 households, the city has previously projected it will spend $4.75 billion providing shelter, food, health care and education to the influx of migrants during the 2025 fiscal year, according to the current forecast by the city’s online asylum seeker funding tracker. 

In August, the city announced two new contracts totaling $40 million for contractors to service migrants at hotels used as emergency shelters. 

As numbers surged at the border in 2021 and 2022, tens of thousands of migrants traveled to major blue cities like New York City, Chicago and Philadelphia. They were aided in 2022 when Texas Gov. Greg Abbott began bussing migrants straight to those cities as a way to relieve the pressure on the border state. He chose sanctuary cities — cities that limit cooperation with federal immigration enforcement — because he said they encouraged the crisis.

There were scenes of hundreds of migrants camped outside the Roosevelt Hotel during the height of the crisis. New York City officials now say over 218,000 migrants have received services in NYC since 2022.

MAN STABBED AT NYC MIGRANT ENCAMPMENT BY RANDALL’S ISLAND SHELTER WEEKS AFTER DEADLY SHOOTING NEARBY

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Officials say they have helped complete more than 72,000 applications for work permits, temporary protected status and asylum. The city has also bought 47,000 tickets to help migrants go to other parts of the country. 

CLICK HERE FOR MORE IMMIGRATION COVERAGE

At the peak of the crisis, the city was taking in an average of 4,000 migrants per week. But that dropped into the hundreds in recent months as the crisis at the border abated after a presidential proclamation from President Biden that limited asylum claims. The Post reported more than 700 new migrants arrived in the city last week.

Migrants reach for food being handed out while being filmed by a woman outside the Roosevelt Hotel, where dozens of recently arrived migrants have been camping out as they try to secure temporary housing Aug. 2, 2023 in New York City. (Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images)

This week, the city announced it would be closing a massive tent shelter on Randall’s Island. Officials said the number of asylum seekers in city shelters has dropped for 14 straight weeks and now is at the lowest point in over a year.

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“We’re not out of the woods yet, but make no mistake, thanks in large part to our smart management strategies and successful advocacy, we have turned the corner on this crisis,” Adams said in a statement. “We’re not scrambling every day to open new shelters. We’re talking about closing them. We’re not talking about how much we’re spending. We’re talking about how much we’ve saved. 

Fox News’ Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.



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Boston, MA

Jazzy Francik tosses no-hitter as FSU softball run-rules Boston College

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Jazzy Francik tosses no-hitter as FSU softball run-rules Boston College


play

  • Florida State sophomore Jazzy Francik pitched her third career no-hitter against Boston College.
  • The Seminoles defeated the Eagles 10-0 in six innings due to the run-rule.
  • The victory moves Florida State one win away from clinching the ACC regular-season title.

Jazzy Francik returned to the site of one of the toughest outings of her career and delivered a dominant performance.

The Florida State sophomore tossed her third career no-hitter and powered the Seminoles to a 10-0 win over Boston College in six innings Saturday at Harrington Athletics Village, moving FSU within one win of clinching the ACC regular-season title.

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Francik (19-2) was in control from the first pitch, striking out six and allowing only one baserunner on an infield error in the fifth inning. She needed just 67 pitches to complete the no-hitter, the third of her career and one of the most efficient outings of her season.

Florida State’s offense gave its ace plenty of support, collecting 12 hits and scoring 10 runs. After a scoreless first inning, the Seminoles broke through in the second with three runs on RBI doubles by freshmen Haley Griggs and Makenna Sturgis.

FSU added four more runs in the fourth inning behind a two-run double from Jaysoni Beachum and an RBI single by Ashtyn Danley. The Seminoles put the run-rule into play in the sixth, scoring three times on an RBI single from Sturgis, an RBI double by Isa Torres and a sacrifice fly from Danley.

Beachum, Torres, Sturgis and Danley each drove in two runs as Florida State continued to pressure Boston College despite several highlight-reel defensive plays from the Eagles.

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Francik and the Seminole defense sealed the no-hitter in the bottom of the sixth to end the game early.

Florida State is one win away from securing at least a share of the ACC regular-season championship. A sweep of Boston College on Sunday would clinch the title outright.

How to watch FSU vs. Boston College Game 2

  • Date: Saturday, May 2
  • Time: 4 p.m.
  • Where: Harrington Athletics Village, Brighton, Massachusetts
  • TV/Stream: ACC extra

Peter Holland Jr. covers Florida State athletics and Big Bend Preps for the Tallahassee Democrat. If you like to pitch a story on a high school athlete, don’t hesitate to get in touch with him via email at PHolland@Gannett.com or on X @_Da_pistol.



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Pittsburg, PA

Pittsburgh residents raise concerns over site of proposed reentry center

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Pittsburgh residents raise concerns over site of proposed reentry center


Outrage is building in a quiet Pittsburgh neighborhood.

Residents say they were blindsided by a plan to convert the former Fraternal Order of Police lodge on Banksville Road into a reentry center. The building could be turned into housing for up to 100 federal inmates, officials said.

Dismas Charities, an organization that operates federal halfway houses across the country, is behind the proposal. But neighbors say this isn’t the place.

“What will these people be doing when they’re not in the halfway house? Will they be law-abiding citizens and respect our community and its members?” questioned Judi Perry, a Shady Crest resident.

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Concerns range from safety to proximity. Some fear the risk of repeat offenses, even though the facility is designed for rehabilitation. Residents point to past incidents tied to similar programs, including a case in Kentucky where an inmate left a facility and killed a police officer.

“We need to be better educated about how this facility would operate, what the parameters are for the people who stay there, and maybe, if we had more information, it would comfort us,” Perry said.

Inside a recent Pittsburgh Planning Commission presentation, Dismas Charities pitched the facility as a second-chance model.

“Over the past five years, we’ve had almost 40,000 residents participate in our programs nationally, and the rate of recidivism is .08 percent,” a Dismas Charities representative said at the meeting.

But that message isn’t landing here. Petitions are already circulating with hundreds of signatures collected. Neighbors say this fight is just beginning.

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“We have preconceived notions about these people who were convicted and committed a crime. We don’t know what their crime was, and so maybe our concerns are exaggerated. But in general, you don’t like the idea of that facility being so close to our community,” Perry said.

A decision could come soon, as the commission is set to take this up in the coming days. If approved, it would still need additional sign-off before any inmates move in.



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Connecticut

Telework at DCF under fire following Child Advocate letter

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Telework at DCF under fire following Child Advocate letter


A strongly worded memo raised new questions about how much work Department of Children and Families (DCF) staff were doing from home, and whether that level of teleworking was hurting child protection. 

Telework expanded during the pandemic and later became part of the state’s labor agreement, allowing some DCF employees to work remotely up to 80% of the week.

While social workers continued to handle court appearances, home visits, and foster placements in person, they were allowed to start and end most workdays at home. Staff must reapply for telework permission every six months and face losing that privilege if performance slips. 

Concerns over the workflow quickly followed. The state’s Office of the Child Advocate (OCA) warned that extensive teleworking could be undermining case practice and supervision inside an agency already struggling with high turnover and many inexperienced workers.

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In a critical letter sent Thursday, the Child Advocate suggested that telework should be limited unless workers met specific, data‑driven performance standards, citing the loss of in‑office collaboration, supervision, and real‑time support. 

NBC Connecticut Investigates also spoke exclusively with a longtime former DCF employee who remained in the child welfare field. That former worker said telework simply did not function on multiple levels at DCF, describing widespread belief among current staff and those in the judicial system that bringing people back into the office was a necessary step toward restoring the agency. 

Lawmakers from both parties echoed those concerns. House Minority Leader Vincent Candelora (R) said staff working remotely were missing daily interaction, training, and support, instead operating in silos. House Speaker Matt Ritter(D) said the newly formed oversight committee was expected to examine the policy. 

Those warnings were backed up by troubling findings. According to the OCA’s report, a review of in‑home cases in 2024 and 2025 found face‑to‑face interactions did not happen in about 40% of cases—something the OCA called alarming and in need of urgent attention. 

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As scrutiny over DCF intensified, teleworking became the latest flashpoint in a broader debate over accountability, supervision, and whether the systems meant to protect vulnerable children were being stretched too thin.



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