{"id":24,"date":"2026-07-11T01:30:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-11T01:30:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/maxinefilmes.com\/odelator\/new-york-homelessness-hotels\/"},"modified":"2026-07-11T02:15:38","modified_gmt":"2026-07-11T02:15:38","slug":"new-york-homelessness-hotels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maxinefilmes.com\/odelator\/new-york-homelessness-hotels\/","title":{"rendered":"Her Family Needed Housing. They Spent Months in New York Hotels, Left to Fend for Themselves."},"content":{"rendered":"<p><main id=\"main\" class=\"wp-block-group content p-grid-container is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\"><\/p>\n<article class=\"wp-block-group p-grid-text-container is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<header class=\"wp-block-group entry-header is-layout-flow wp-container-core-group-is-layout-3ce78d47 wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-propublica-opener\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group p-opener p-opener--full p-opener--left p-opener--full-hed-over-art is-layout-flow wp-container-core-group-is-layout-a77db08e wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group p-opener__art-wrapper is-layout-flow wp-container-core-group-is-layout-a77db08e wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t<img\n\t\t\t\tclass=\"p-opener__art\"\n\t\t\t\talt=\"The Stradford-Moses family stands outside its home. Jasmine Stradford holds one of the family\u2019s dogs in her hand.\"\n\t\t\t\twidth=\"1149\"\n\t\t\t\theight=\"767\"\n\t\t\t\tsrc=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250207-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0039_DSC7516A.jpg?w=1149\"\n\t\t\t\tsizes=\"100vw\"\n\t\t\t\tsrcset=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250207-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0039_DSC7516A.jpg 3000w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250207-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0039_DSC7516A.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250207-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0039_DSC7516A.jpg?resize=768,513 768w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250207-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0039_DSC7516A.jpg?resize=1024,683 1024w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250207-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0039_DSC7516A.jpg?resize=1536,1025 1536w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250207-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0039_DSC7516A.jpg?resize=2048,1367 2048w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250207-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0039_DSC7516A.jpg?resize=863,576 863w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250207-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0039_DSC7516A.jpg?resize=422,282 422w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250207-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0039_DSC7516A.jpg?resize=552,368 552w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250207-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0039_DSC7516A.jpg?resize=558,372 558w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250207-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0039_DSC7516A.jpg?resize=527,352 527w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250207-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0039_DSC7516A.jpg?resize=752,502 752w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250207-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0039_DSC7516A.jpg?resize=1149,767 1149w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250207-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0039_DSC7516A.jpg?resize=459,306 459w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250207-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0039_DSC7516A.jpg?resize=2000,1335 2000w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250207-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0039_DSC7516A.jpg?resize=400,267 400w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250207-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0039_DSC7516A.jpg?resize=800,534 800w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250207-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0039_DSC7516A.jpg?resize=1200,801 1200w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250207-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0039_DSC7516A.jpg?resize=1600,1068 1600w\"\n\t\t\t\tfetchpriority=\"high\"\n\t\t\t\tstyle=\"object-position: 53% 29%;\"\t\t\t\/><figcaption class=\"p-attribution screen-reader-text\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"p-attribution__caption\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\tFrom left to right: Jasmine Stradford; her partner, Tiberious Moses; and two of their children, Taylor and De\u2019Vante. The Broome County, New York, Department of Social Services cycled the family through four roadside hotels over three months.<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"p-attribution__credit\"><br \/>\n                        Michelle Gabel for ProPublica<br \/>\n                    <\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div style=\"height:100%\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer p-opener__art-scrim p-hide-below-lg\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-block-group p-opener__topic-title-dek-wrapper p-opener__topic-title-dek-wrapper--over-art p-hide-below-lg is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<h1 class=\"p-opener__hed p-opener__hed--small wp-block-post-title\">Her Family Needed Housing. They Spent Months in New York Hotels, Left to Fend for Themselves.<\/h1>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div><figcaption class=\"p-attribution\" aria-hidden=\"true\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"p-attribution__caption\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\tFrom left to right: Jasmine Stradford; her partner, Tiberious Moses; and two of their children, Taylor and De\u2019Vante. The Broome County, New York, Department of Social Services cycled the family through four roadside hotels over three months.<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"p-attribution__credit\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\tMichelle Gabel for ProPublica<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><div class=\"wp-block-group p-opener__topic-title-dek-wrapper is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<h1 class=\"p-opener__hed   p-hide-above-lg  wp-block-post-title\">Her Family Needed Housing. They Spent Months in New York Hotels, Left to Fend for Themselves.<\/h1>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-block-group p-article-meta-1 p-article-meta-1--left is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<div class=\"p-article-meta-1__byline wp-block-propublica-byline\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-propublica-byline__right\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-propublica-byline__content\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"wp-block-propublica-byline-text\">by <\/span><span class=\"wp-block-propublica-byline-profile\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/people\/spencer-norris\">Spencer Norris<\/a><\/span><span class=\"wp-block-propublica-byline-text\">, <\/span><span class=\"wp-block-propublica-byline-organization\"><a href=\"https:\/\/nysfocus.com\/\">New York Focus<\/a><\/span>\t\t<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-propublica-byline__partners\">\n\t\t\t\tCo-published with <a href=\"https:\/\/nysfocus.com\/\">New York Focus<\/a>\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"p-article-meta-1__pubdate wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2025-06-24T05:00:00-04:00\">June 24, 2025, 5:00 am<\/time><\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-block-group p-article-meta-1__section-actions p-article-meta-1__section-actions--left is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group p-article-meta-1__section-actions-container is-nowrap is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-6c531013 wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\">\n<p>                <script type=\"application\/json\" class=\"svelte-config\">\n                    {\"componentName\":\"ShareToolsRebrand\",\"props\":{\"pageTitle\":\"Her Family Needed Housing. 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--button-bg-color: var(--p-color-page-bg); --button-text-color: var(--p-dyn-color-gray-05); --button-border: 1px solid var(--p-dyn-color-gray-01); --button-font-size: var(--p-scale-4);\"><!--[--><!----><button data-button-root=\"true\" tabindex=\"-1\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><span aria-hidden=\"true\"><!--[-1--><svg role=\"img\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\" stroke=\"currentColor\" stroke-width=\"2\" stroke-linecap=\"round\" stroke-linejoin=\"round\"><title>Contrast<\/title><circle cx=\"12\" cy=\"12\" r=\"10\"><\/circle><path fill=\"currentColor\" d=\"M12 18a6 6 0 000-12v12z\"><\/path><\/svg><!--]--><\/span><!----><!----><\/button><!----><!--]--><\/div>\n<p><!----> <label class=\"p-a11y\" for=\"dark-mode-toggle__select\">Change Appearance<\/label> <select class=\"dark-mode-toggle__select svelte-1l6vey\" id=\"dark-mode-toggle__select\" data-pp-change=\"true\" data-pp-category=\"change-mode\"><!--[--><option value=\"auto\" selected=\"\">Auto<\/option><option value=\"light\">Light<\/option><option value=\"dark\">Dark<\/option><!--]--><\/select><\/div>\n<p><!--]-->\n                <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"wp-block-group article-body is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<aside class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-propublica-notes--top wp-block-propublica-notes\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-propublica-note--co-publish wp-block-propublica-note\">\n<p>This article was produced for ProPublica\u2019s Local Reporting Network in partnership with <a href=\"https:\/\/nysfocus.com\/\">New York Focus<\/a>, an investigative news outlet reporting on New York. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/newsletters\/dispatches\">Sign up for Dispatches<\/a> to get our stories in your inbox every week, and sign up for <a href=\"https:\/\/nysfocus.com\/newsletter\">New York Focus\u2019 newsletter here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<div class=\"entry-content wp-block-post-content is-layout-flow wp-block-post-content-is-layout-flow\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-propublica-reporting-highlights\">\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Reporting Highlights<\/h3>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Growing Reliance:<\/strong> New York\u2019s social services agencies placed just under half of the individuals and families receiving emergency shelter outside the city in fiscal year 2024 in hotels.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Lack of Services:<\/strong> State regulations exempt hotels from providing the services families receive in shelters, such as food, help finding housing and sometimes child care.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Expensive Solution:<\/strong> County social services offices regularly pay the hotels rates that are more than fair market rent for two-bedroom apartments in their areas.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"wp-block-propublica-reporting-highlights__disclaimer\">These highlights were written by the reporters and editors who worked on this story.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Jasmine Stradford sat on her porch near Binghamton, New York, with toys, furniture, garbage bags full of clothing and other possessions piled up around her. She and her partner were being evicted after falling behind on rent.<\/p>\n<p>So last June, they and their children \u2014 then ages 3, 12 and 15 \u2014 turned to New York\u2019s emergency shelter system for help. It was built to provide homeless residents not only beds, but also food, help finding permanent housing and sometimes child care so parents can find work, attend school or look for apartments.<\/p>\n<p>Stradford and her family received almost none of that. Instead of placing them in a shelter, the Broome County Department of Social Services cycled them through four roadside hotels over three months, where they mostly had to fend for themselves.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI remember staring at my kids, thinking that I\u2019d failed them,\u201d Stradford said. \u201cThen I remember going to DSS and being completely dehumanized.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Stradford\u2019s family was part of a growing trend: In the past few years, hotels have quietly become the state\u2019s predominant response to homelessness outside New York City. New York Focus and ProPublica found that the state\u2019s social services agencies placed just under half the 34,000 individuals and families receiving emergency shelter outside the city in fiscal year 2024 in hotels \u2014 up from 29% in 2018. The change was most pronounced in Broome County, where hotel cases more than quintupled.<\/p>\n<p>Statewide spending on hotels more than tripled over that period to $110 million, according to an analysis of state temporary housing data by the news organizations. In total, hotels outside New York City were paid about $420 million to shelter unhoused people from April 2017 to September 2024.<\/p>\n<div class=\"p-hide-print p-bb--size-full wp-block-propublica-ad-slot\">\n<div id=\"bsa-zone_1760102005055-6_123456\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-block-propublica-lead-in bb--size-medium p-bb--size-medium\">\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-statewide-spending-on-hotels-more-than-tripled-from-2018-to-2024\">Statewide Spending on Hotels More Than Tripled From 2018 to 2024<\/h3>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-propublica-html\">\n\t<iframe title=\"NYS Payments By Year\" aria-label=\"Interactive line chart\" id=\"datawrapper-chart-9LaDn\" src=\"https:\/\/datawrapper.dwcdn.net\/9LaDn\/4\/\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"width: 0; min-width: 100% !important; border: none;\" height=\"383\" data-external=\"1\"><\/iframe><script type=\"text\/javascript\">!function(){\"use strict\";window.addEventListener(\"message\",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data[\"datawrapper-height\"]){var e=document.querySelectorAll(\"iframe\");for(var t in a.data[\"datawrapper-height\"])for(var r,i=0;r=e[i];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data[\"datawrapper-height\"][t]+\"px\";r.style.height=d}}}))}();\n<\/script><figcaption class=\"attribution\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"attribution__caption\">Data source: Analysis of Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance data on emergency shelter payments. Years are fiscal years.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"attribution__credit\">Lucas Waldron\/ProPublica<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>It\u2019s a makeshift arrangement that provides people a roof over their head but little else. State regulations exempt hotels from providing the same services that families are supposed to receive in the shelter system.<\/p>\n<p>The hotels are \u201cless supportive, less conducive for good health outcomes, good education outcomes,\u201d said Adam Bosch, CEO of Hudson Valley Pattern for Progress, a policy research nonprofit. \u201cIf our ultimate goal is to get people moving back toward independence, sticking them in a hotel on a hillside away from services, away from schools, away from transportation networks is not a great strategy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Homelessness in New York City received intense media coverage as the migrant crisis became fodder in the presidential election. But far less attention has been paid to the homeless population throughout the rest of New York, which far surpasses most other states on its own.<\/p>\n<p>Few of the migrants were relocated to hotels outside the city. Instead, the spike in hotel housing stems from a combination of soaring rent, dozens of shelter closures and what housing advocates and industry representatives said was a botched response to the end of the state\u2019s pandemic-related eviction moratorium in 2022. After the moratorium ended, landlords began evicting tenants at rates exceeding previous years. With fewer shelters and more people in need, the number of individuals and families placed in hotels shot up.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-propublica-position-full bb--size-full p-bb--size-full\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" js-autosizes height=\"1708\" width=\"2560\" src=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250228-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0013_DSC7698A_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg\" alt=\"A child and two adults wearing winter coats walk away from the camera near the Knights Inn in Endwell, New York.\" class=\"wp-image-37223\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250228-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0013_DSC7698A_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg 3000w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250228-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0013_DSC7698A_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250228-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0013_DSC7698A_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=768,513 768w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250228-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0013_DSC7698A_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=1024,683 1024w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250228-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0013_DSC7698A_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=1536,1025 1536w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250228-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0013_DSC7698A_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=2048,1367 2048w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250228-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0013_DSC7698A_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=863,576 863w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250228-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0013_DSC7698A_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=422,282 422w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250228-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0013_DSC7698A_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=552,368 552w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250228-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0013_DSC7698A_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=558,372 558w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250228-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0013_DSC7698A_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=527,352 527w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250228-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0013_DSC7698A_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=752,502 752w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250228-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0013_DSC7698A_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=1149,767 1149w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250228-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0013_DSC7698A_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=459,306 459w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250228-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0013_DSC7698A_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=2000,1335 2000w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250228-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0013_DSC7698A_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=400,267 400w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250228-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0013_DSC7698A_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=800,534 800w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250228-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0013_DSC7698A_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=1200,801 1200w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250228-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0013_DSC7698A_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=1600,1068 1600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><figcaption class=\"attribution\"><span class=\"attribution__caption\">An unhoused family living at the Knights Inn in Endwell, New York. It was one of the hotels where the Broome County Department of Social Services placed the Stradford-Moses family.<\/span> <span class=\"attribution__credit\">Michelle Gabel for ProPublica<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Barbara Guinn, the commissioner of the state Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance, said in an interview that her agency hadn\u2019t studied the growth in hotel use for emergency shelter. The trend has been scarcely mentioned at legislative hearings in Albany.<\/p>\n<p>But OTDA, which supervises the county social services offices, has long known about the problems the hotels present. In early 2020, state auditors warned the agency that it wasn\u2019t adequately overseeing shelters, including hotels used as temporary housing. OTDA acknowledged that hotels present challenges because they don\u2019t have on-site support services or the same level of supervision as shelters.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-video bb--size-xsmall-left p-bb--size-xsmall-left\"><video height=\"1920\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1080 \/ 1920;\" width=\"1080\" controls poster=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250604-Stradford-NY-Homeless-Motels-samir-skateboard-poster-image_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_quality_95_embedColorProfile_true.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250604-Stradford-NY-Homeless-Motels-samir-skateboard.aep.mp4\"><\/video><figcaption class=\"attribution\"><span class=\"attribution__caption\">Samir, Moses and Stradford\u2019s 3-year-old son, tries to pass the time in one of the hotel rooms the family stayed in after its eviction.<\/span> <span class=\"attribution__credit\">Courtesy of Jasmine Stradford<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Rules clarifying the requirement that temporary housing recipients in hotels receive shelter-like services have been on OTDA\u2019s regulatory agenda for at least four years. But the agency, and lawmakers who oversee it, stood by as hotel housing increased. Guinn said she couldn\u2019t \u201cprovide insight\u201d on why the agency never formally proposed the rules, but she committed to advancing them this year. The Broome County Department of Social Services did not make its commissioner, Nancy Williams, available for an interview and did not respond to a detailed list of questions.<\/p>\n<p>Reporting across the state, the news organizations found people living for months and sometimes years in hotels, doing what they can to get by. Families share beds while their belongings fill the corners of their rooms. Without kitchens and barred from using most appliances, they trek down shoulderless highways to grocery stores or scour food pantries for anything they can cook in a microwave. They squish cockroaches skittering in dressers. And hotels often force them to move out every few weeks, keeping stability out of reach.<\/p>\n<p>The four hotels that Stradford\u2019s family was placed in last summer collectively made about $10,000 sheltering it over three months \u2014\u00a0more than what the family owed in back rent. That works out to more than twice the monthly fair market rent for a four-bedroom apartment in Binghamton at the time.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-propublica-lead-in bb--size-medium p-bb--size-medium\">\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-new-york-social-services-agencies-frequently-paid-hotels-over-fair-market-rent-for-a-two-bedroom-apartment\">New York Social Services Agencies Frequently Paid Hotels Over Fair Market Rent for a Two-Bedroom Apartment<\/h3>\n<p>Nearly half of all payments to hotels were for more than twice the counties\u2019 FMR.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-propublica-html\">\n\t<!-- Generated by ai2html v0.121.1 - 2025-06-10 10:04 --><br \/>\n<!-- ai file: fmr-comparison.ai --><\/p>\n<style media=\"screen,print\">\n\t#g-fmr-comparison-box {\n\t\tmax-width:650px;\n        font-family: var(--fonts-sans);\n\t}\n\t#g-fmr-comparison-box p {\n\t\tmargin:0;\n\t}\n\t#g-fmr-comparison-box .g-aiAbs {\n\t\tposition:absolute;\n\t}\n\t#g-fmr-comparison-box .g-aiImg {\n\t\tposition:absolute;\n\t\ttop:0;\n\t\tdisplay:block;\n\t\twidth:100% !important;\n\t}\n\t#g-fmr-comparison-box .g-aiSymbol {\n\t\tposition: absolute;\n\t\tbox-sizing: border-box;\n\t}\n\t#g-fmr-comparison-box .g-aiPointText p { white-space: nowrap; }\n\t#g-fmr-comparison-desktop {\n\t\tposition:relative;\n\t\toverflow:hidden;\n\t}\n\t#g-fmr-comparison-desktop p {\n\t\tfont-weight:400;\n\t\tline-height:16px;\n\t\topacity:1;\n\t\tletter-spacing:0em;\n\t\tfont-size:13px;\n\t\ttext-align:left;\n\t\tcolor:rgb(244,244,244);\n\t\ttext-transform:none;\n\t\tpadding-bottom:0;\n\t\tpadding-top:0;\n\t\theight:auto;\n\t\tposition:static;\n\t}\n\t#g-fmr-comparison-desktop .g-pstyle0 {\n\t\tfont-weight:600;\n\t\tline-height:17px;\n\t\theight:17px;\n\t\tfont-size:14px;\n\t\ttext-align:center;\n\t}\n\t#g-fmr-comparison-desktop .g-pstyle1 {\n\t\tfont-weight:400;\n\t\ttext-align:center;\n\t}\n\t#g-fmr-comparison-desktop .g-pstyle2 {\n\t\tfont-weight:400;\n\t\tline-height:17px;\n\t\tfont-size:14px;\n\t\tcolor:rgb(127,127,127);\n\t}\n\t#g-fmr-comparison-mobile {\n\t\tposition:relative;\n\t\toverflow:hidden;\n\t}\n\t#g-fmr-comparison-mobile p {\n\t\tfont-weight:400;\n\t\tline-height:16px;\n\t\topacity:1;\n\t\tletter-spacing:0em;\n\t\tfont-size:13px;\n\t\ttext-align:left;\n\t\tcolor:rgb(244,244,244);\n\t\ttext-transform:none;\n\t\tpadding-bottom:0;\n\t\tpadding-top:0;\n\t\theight:auto;\n\t\tposition:static;\n\t}\n\t#g-fmr-comparison-mobile .g-pstyle0 {\n\t\tfont-weight:600;\n\t\tline-height:17px;\n\t\theight:17px;\n\t\tfont-size:14px;\n\t\ttext-align:center;\n\t}\n\t#g-fmr-comparison-mobile .g-pstyle1 {\n\t\tfont-weight:400;\n\t\ttext-align:center;\n\t}\n\t#g-fmr-comparison-mobile .g-pstyle2 {\n\t\tfont-weight:400;\n\t\tline-height:17px;\n\t\tfont-size:14px;\n\t\tcolor:rgb(127,127,127);\n\t}<\/p>\n<p>\t\/* Custom CSS *\/\n\t#g-fmr-comparison-box > div  {\n        overflow:visible !important\n    }\n    #g-fmr-comparison-box > div:nth-of-type(1) {\n    display: none;\n    }\n@media screen and (min-width: 48em) {\n  #g-fmr-comparison-box  > div:nth-of-type(1) {\n        display: block;\n  }\n  #g-fmr-comparison-box > div:nth-of-type(2) {\n        display: none;\n  }\n}<\/p>\n<\/style>\n<div id=\"g-fmr-comparison-box\" class=\"ai2html\">\n<p>\t<!-- Artboard: desktop --><\/p>\n<div id=\"g-fmr-comparison-desktop\" class=\"g-artboard\" style=\"min-width: 504px;\" data-aspect-ratio=\"1.345\" data-min-width=\"504\">\n<div style=\"padding: 0 0 74.3438% 0;\"><\/div>\n<p>\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" id=\"g-fmr-comparison-desktop-img\" class=\"g-fmr-comparison-desktop-img g-aiImg\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/static.propublica.org\/projects\/graphics\/2025-ny-homeless-hotels\/fmr-comparison-desktop.png\"\/><\/p>\n<div id=\"g-ai0-1\" class=\"g-exportSVG g-aiAbs g-aiPointText\" style=\"top:20%;margin-top:-9.1px;left:44.365%;margin-left:-25.5px;width:51px;\">\n<p class=\"g-pstyle0\">44%<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"g-ai0-2\" class=\"g-exportSVG g-aiAbs\" style=\"top:22%;left:44.3836%;margin-left:-10.9127%;width:21.8254%;\">\n<p class=\"g-pstyle1\">more than<br \/>twice FMR<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"g-ai0-3\" class=\"g-exportSVG g-aiAbs\" style=\"top:41.5%;left:64.308%;width:24.2063%;\">\n<p class=\"g-pstyle2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 600;\">86%<\/span> of payments to hotels were above FMR<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"g-ai0-4\" class=\"g-exportSVG g-aiAbs g-aiPointText\" style=\"top:60%;margin-top:-9.1px;left:44.4178%;margin-left:-25.5px;width:51px;\">\n<p class=\"g-pstyle0\">42%<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"g-ai0-5\" class=\"g-exportSVG g-aiAbs\" style=\"top:62.5%;left:44.4404%;margin-left:-12.2024%;width:24.4048%;\">\n<p class=\"g-pstyle1\">one to two<br \/>times FMR<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"g-ai0-6\" class=\"g-exportSVG g-aiAbs g-aiPointText\" style=\"top:88.5%;margin-top:-9.1px;left:44.3938%;margin-left:-24px;width:48px;\">\n<p class=\"g-pstyle0\">14%<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"g-ai0-7\" class=\"g-exportSVG g-aiAbs\" style=\"top:90.4741%;left:44.4404%;margin-left:-12.2024%;width:24.4048%;\">\n<p class=\"g-pstyle1\">less than FMR<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\t<!-- Artboard: mobile --><\/p>\n<div id=\"g-fmr-comparison-mobile\" class=\"g-artboard\" style=\"max-width: 503px;max-height: 528px\" data-aspect-ratio=\"0.952\" data-min-width=\"0\" data-max-width=\"503\">\n<div style=\"padding: 0 0 104.998% 0;\"><\/div>\n<p>\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" id=\"g-fmr-comparison-mobile-img\" class=\"g-fmr-comparison-mobile-img g-aiImg\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/static.propublica.org\/projects\/graphics\/2025-ny-homeless-hotels\/fmr-comparison-mobile.png\"\/><\/p>\n<div id=\"g-ai1-1\" class=\"g-exportSVG g-aiAbs g-aiPointText\" style=\"top:16.3536%;margin-top:-9.1px;left:31.6563%;margin-left:-25.5px;width:51px;\">\n<p class=\"g-pstyle0\">44%<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"g-ai1-2\" class=\"g-exportSVG g-aiAbs\" style=\"top:19.3201%;left:31.683%;margin-left:-15.7143%;width:31.4286%;\">\n<p class=\"g-pstyle1\">more than<br \/>twice FMR<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"g-ai1-3\" class=\"g-exportSVG g-aiAbs\" style=\"top:41%;left:60.3742%;width:34.8571%;\">\n<p class=\"g-pstyle2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 600;\">86%<\/span> of payments to hotels were above FMR<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"g-ai1-4\" class=\"g-exportSVG g-aiAbs g-aiPointText\" style=\"top:57.715%;margin-top:-9.1px;left:31.7322%;margin-left:-25.5px;width:51px;\">\n<p class=\"g-pstyle0\">42%<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"g-ai1-5\" class=\"g-exportSVG g-aiAbs\" style=\"top:60.6814%;left:31.7649%;margin-left:-17.5714%;width:35.1429%;\">\n<p class=\"g-pstyle1\">one to two<br \/>times FMR<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"g-ai1-6\" class=\"g-exportSVG g-aiAbs g-aiPointText\" style=\"top:88.8%;margin-top:-9.1px;left:31.6976%;margin-left:-24px;width:48px;\">\n<p class=\"g-pstyle0\">14%<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"g-ai1-7\" class=\"g-exportSVG g-aiAbs\" style=\"top:91.1582%;left:31.7649%;margin-left:-17.5714%;width:35.1429%;\">\n<p class=\"g-pstyle1\">less than FMR<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><!-- End ai2html - 2025-06-10 10:04 --><figcaption class=\"attribution\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"attribution__caption\">Data Source: Analysis of Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance data on emergency shelter payments; U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development fair market rent data for two-bedroom apartments in each county for federal fiscal year 2024.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"attribution__credit\">Lucas Waldron\/ProPublica<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>This isn\u2019t unusual. County social services offices regularly pay the hotels rates that are worth many times fair market rent for permanent housing in their areas, according to the analysis of OTDA\u2019s housing payment data. One motel in Rome, outside Utica, that was the scene of a shooting last fall charged the county $250 a night for a room at times, according to invoices submitted to the county\u2019s Department of Social Services.<\/p>\n<p>Over three months, Stradford\u2019s family struggled to maintain some semblance of its old life while bouncing from hotel to hotel. The family would lose countless possessions. The kids\u2019 educations would be disrupted, as the school bus failed to keep up with their moves. Their experiences would show the importance of the services they weren\u2019t receiving and what happens to New York\u2019s homeless families when they can\u2019t access them.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u201cIt\u2019s Like Malpractice\u201d<\/h3>\n<p>Stradford and her partner, Tiberious Moses, had been evicted after she missed work at a children\u2019s group home while recovering from surgery and Moses struggled to support the family with temporary jobs. At first, Stradford was relieved when the Department of Social Services informed her that it would place them in a hotel instead of a shelter.<\/p>\n<div class=\"p-hide-print p-bb--size-full wp-block-propublica-ad-slot\">\n<div id=\"bsa-zone_1760102469343-3_123456\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cGoing to the hotel, I originally thought, \u2018OK, this gives a little bit more leeway, a little bit more comfort, hospitality, all of that,\u2019 only to find out that it\u2019s not that at all,\u201d she said. \u201cIf you are a DSS recipient, you\u2019re nothing. You are the bottom of the pit.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Stradford\u2019s family \u2014 two adults, three children and four dogs \u2014 was packed into a room with two beds at an Econo Lodge sandwiched between a gas station and another budget hotel. Stradford said she found cockroaches and had trouble getting the hotel to clean their room. She said she often saw drug use at the hotel and felt unsafe. Law enforcement and emergency services were called to the hotel 116 times in the first half of that year, dispatch logs show.<\/p>\n<p>Despite those conditions, the Econo Lodge received more money to house temporary assistance recipients than any other known hotel outside New York City, according to the OTDA payments data for the 2024 fiscal year. The hotel, now called Hillside Inn &amp; Suites, served more than 900 individuals and families placed by the Department of Social Services for at least 30,000 total nights, earning over $2.3 million.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-propublica-position-large bb--size-large p-bb--size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" js-autosizes height=\"767\" width=\"1149\" src=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250228-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0019_DSC7741_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg\" alt=\"Birds fly over the Hillside Inn &#038; Suites building and parking lot. A sign reads: \u201cHillside Inn &#038; Suites\u201d and \u201cBest Value.\u201d\" class=\"wp-image-37224\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250228-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0019_DSC7741_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg 3000w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250228-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0019_DSC7741_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250228-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0019_DSC7741_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=768,513 768w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250228-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0019_DSC7741_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=1024,683 1024w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250228-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0019_DSC7741_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=1536,1025 1536w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250228-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0019_DSC7741_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=2048,1367 2048w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250228-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0019_DSC7741_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=863,576 863w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250228-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0019_DSC7741_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=422,282 422w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250228-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0019_DSC7741_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=552,368 552w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250228-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0019_DSC7741_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=558,372 558w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250228-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0019_DSC7741_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=527,352 527w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250228-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0019_DSC7741_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=752,502 752w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250228-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0019_DSC7741_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=1149,767 1149w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250228-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0019_DSC7741_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=459,306 459w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250228-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0019_DSC7741_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=2000,1335 2000w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250228-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0019_DSC7741_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=400,267 400w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250228-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0019_DSC7741_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=800,534 800w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250228-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0019_DSC7741_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=1200,801 1200w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250228-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0019_DSC7741_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=1600,1068 1600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1149px) 100vw, 1149px\" \/><figcaption class=\"attribution\"><span class=\"attribution__caption\">The Hillside Inn &#038; Suites, formerly an Econo Lodge, in Binghamton, New York. The Stradford-Moses family spent 26 nights here.<\/span> <span class=\"attribution__credit\">Michelle Gabel for ProPublica<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re forced to rent hotel rooms across the state, and the operators of these places understand that,\u201d said state Sen. Roxanne Persaud, chair of the chamber\u2019s Social Services Committee. \u201cThe municipalities\u2019 backs are against the wall. And so they must place the unhoused person or persons somewhere. And so that\u2019s why you see the cost is skyrocketing, because people understand that it\u2019s an easy way to make money off the government.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>OTDA\u2019s regulations say hotels should be considered shelters and provide services if they are used \u201cprimarily\u201d as temporary housing for homeless welfare recipients. At least 16 hotels appear to house mostly welfare recipients, the analysis showed.<\/p>\n<p>OTDA spokesperson Anthony Farmer said the agency interprets \u201cprimarily\u201d to mean hotels that \u201chouse recipients exclusively, or almost exclusively, throughout the year.\u201d He said that hotels aren\u2019t required to deliver services but that county social services agencies \u201care responsible for some level of service provision.\u201d The state, however, doesn\u2019t regularly collect information on how counties provide services. Guinn said OTDA plans to create a formal process for counties to submit it under new regulations.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-propublica-position-small bb--size-small-left p-bb--size-small-left\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" js-autosizes height=\"395\" width=\"527\" src=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250604-ProPublica-NY-Homeless-Motels-receipt-econo-lodge-2.png\" alt=\"Illustration of a receipt with the text: Econo Lodge. Binghamton, New York. June 21, 2024. 26 nights @ $72 a day. TOTAL: $1,872.\" class=\"wp-image-37225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250604-ProPublica-NY-Homeless-Motels-receipt-econo-lodge-2.png 1335w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250604-ProPublica-NY-Homeless-Motels-receipt-econo-lodge-2.png?resize=300,225 300w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250604-ProPublica-NY-Homeless-Motels-receipt-econo-lodge-2.png?resize=768,575 768w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250604-ProPublica-NY-Homeless-Motels-receipt-econo-lodge-2.png?resize=1024,767 1024w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250604-ProPublica-NY-Homeless-Motels-receipt-econo-lodge-2.png?resize=863,646 863w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250604-ProPublica-NY-Homeless-Motels-receipt-econo-lodge-2.png?resize=422,316 422w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250604-ProPublica-NY-Homeless-Motels-receipt-econo-lodge-2.png?resize=552,413 552w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250604-ProPublica-NY-Homeless-Motels-receipt-econo-lodge-2.png?resize=558,418 558w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250604-ProPublica-NY-Homeless-Motels-receipt-econo-lodge-2.png?resize=527,395 527w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250604-ProPublica-NY-Homeless-Motels-receipt-econo-lodge-2.png?resize=752,563 752w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250604-ProPublica-NY-Homeless-Motels-receipt-econo-lodge-2.png?resize=1149,861 1149w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250604-ProPublica-NY-Homeless-Motels-receipt-econo-lodge-2.png?resize=400,300 400w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250604-ProPublica-NY-Homeless-Motels-receipt-econo-lodge-2.png?resize=800,599 800w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250604-ProPublica-NY-Homeless-Motels-receipt-econo-lodge-2.png?resize=1200,899 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 527px) 100vw, 527px\" \/><figcaption class=\"attribution\"><span class=\"attribution__credit\">Illustration by ProPublica<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The Econo Lodge\u2019s contract with Broome County doesn\u2019t call for the services offered by shelters, like food and assistance finding housing. It requires the hotel to provide little more than a room with housekeeping, linens and toiletries. The hotel\u2019s CEO, Paresh Patel, declined to comment.<\/p>\n<p>In contrast, traditional shelters often put a significant amount of their funding toward social services. Shelter budgets obtained from OTDA show that they frequently retain at least part-time employees to prepare food and help people find jobs and housing. Local social services offices try to offset the lack of on-site services by hiring caseworkers but have struggled <a href=\"https:\/\/nysfocus.com\/2023\/06\/05\/social-services-workers-quitting-benefits-snap-food-stamps\">to retain them<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Instead, hotel residents like Stradford\u2019s family are caught in a web of conflicts between the way those services are provided, the strings attached to benefits and the rules and limitations of living in hotels. Social services departments might provide them food stamps to buy groceries, but hotel residents usually don\u2019t have kitchens and are often not allowed to have appliances like hot plates. To keep their lodging, they\u2019re generally required to seek housing and to work or look for jobs, but they often don\u2019t receive child care. They have to regularly meet with caseworkers at social services offices but must rely on spotty public transportation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo me, it\u2019s like malpractice as a homeless services provider to place people without support services\u201d in hotels, said Deborah Padgett, a professor of social work at New York University. \u201cIt\u2019s good in the sense that they get more privacy, but for them to get a life and not be dependent on the government, they need to be close to services and not be punished for making mistakes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Guinn said that her agency would prefer counties use regulated shelters in housing emergencies but that there aren\u2019t enough beds to accommodate everyone. Social services offices must rely on hotels when shelters don\u2019t have space or don\u2019t exist in a particular county, Farmer said in an email.<\/p>\n<p>After 26 nights, Broome County relocated Stradford\u2019s family to the Quality Inn &amp; Suites in Vestal, a Binghamton suburb down the Susquehanna River that\u2019s home to Binghamton University. Stradford\u2019s car had been repossessed, so they stuffed a suitcase and the kids\u2019 book bags with as many clothes as they could and hopped on the bus.<\/p>\n<div class=\"p-hide-print p-bb--size-full wp-block-propublica-ad-slot\">\n<div id=\"bsa-zone_1760102552591-0_123456\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-propublica-position-small bb--size-small-right p-bb--size-small-right\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" js-autosizes height=\"425\" width=\"527\" src=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250604-ProPublica-NY-Homeless-Motels-receipt-quality-inn-5.png\" alt=\"Illustration of a receipt with the text: Quality Inn. Vestal, New York. July 17, 2024. 14 nights @ $90 a day. TOTAL: $1,260.\" class=\"wp-image-37226\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250604-ProPublica-NY-Homeless-Motels-receipt-quality-inn-5.png 1241w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250604-ProPublica-NY-Homeless-Motels-receipt-quality-inn-5.png?resize=300,242 300w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250604-ProPublica-NY-Homeless-Motels-receipt-quality-inn-5.png?resize=768,619 768w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250604-ProPublica-NY-Homeless-Motels-receipt-quality-inn-5.png?resize=1024,825 1024w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250604-ProPublica-NY-Homeless-Motels-receipt-quality-inn-5.png?resize=863,695 863w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250604-ProPublica-NY-Homeless-Motels-receipt-quality-inn-5.png?resize=422,340 422w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250604-ProPublica-NY-Homeless-Motels-receipt-quality-inn-5.png?resize=552,445 552w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250604-ProPublica-NY-Homeless-Motels-receipt-quality-inn-5.png?resize=558,450 558w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250604-ProPublica-NY-Homeless-Motels-receipt-quality-inn-5.png?resize=527,425 527w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250604-ProPublica-NY-Homeless-Motels-receipt-quality-inn-5.png?resize=752,606 752w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250604-ProPublica-NY-Homeless-Motels-receipt-quality-inn-5.png?resize=1149,926 1149w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250604-ProPublica-NY-Homeless-Motels-receipt-quality-inn-5.png?resize=400,322 400w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250604-ProPublica-NY-Homeless-Motels-receipt-quality-inn-5.png?resize=800,645 800w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250604-ProPublica-NY-Homeless-Motels-receipt-quality-inn-5.png?resize=1200,967 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 527px) 100vw, 527px\" \/><figcaption class=\"attribution\"><span class=\"attribution__credit\">Illustration by ProPublica<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>At the Quality Inn, the family struggled to eat. They had applied for food stamps, but Stradford said she couldn\u2019t get wage records from her former employer proving she was eligible. Instead, the county provided them a restaurant allowance worth about $15 a day to cover all five of them. To get by, they took the bus to food pantries like Catholic Charities, which had started creating \u201chotel bags\u201d stuffed with canned food, oatmeal, crackers, macaroni and cheese and snacks for the kids \u2014 anything that could be eaten cold or prepared with a microwave.<\/p>\n<p>While many shelters provide food on site, contracts between the hotels and Broome County forbid emergency housing recipients from eating the hotels\u2019 food. Stradford said her family was threatened with removal from the Quality Inn after her 12-year-old daughter, Taylor, tried to eat the continental breakfast.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen we first started taking families on, we did allow breakfast, and unfortunately there was too much being carried away, so we chose to change that,\u201d the hotel\u2019s general manager, Bernadine Morris, said. The Quality Inn has since closed and could not be reached for follow-up questions.<\/p>\n<p>People can get kicked out of hotels and lose their housing assistance for repeatedly violating hotels\u2019 policies, including by using their own cooking appliances. One woman who previously lived at the Motel 6 in Binghamton said she avoided sanctions by throwing an extension cord from the window of her second-story room to use a pressure cooker on the sidewalk.<\/p>\n<p>Stradford\u2019s nonstop juggling act left her on edge. She was grieving her mother\u2019s death, feeding five people and four dogs, apartment-hunting and hustling to culinary classes and social services appointments. She said her children started feeling the stress too: Her 3-year-old, Samir, was wetting the bed frequently, and the older kids missed classes for their summer courses.<\/p>\n<p>The family began butting heads with Quality Inn managers, who accused them of being disruptive and terminated their stay, according to Stradford\u2019s social services case file.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m not totally surprised that they run into problems with the hotel supervisors and the staff just because they\u2019re trying to find some way to get their needs attended to, and it\u2019s not really fair to expect the hotel to do what those people are not trained to do,\u201d Padgett said.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-propublica-position-large bb--size-large p-bb--size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" js-autosizes height=\"767\" width=\"1149\" src=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250207-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0016_DSC7505A_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg\" alt=\"Stradford stares off in the distance, looking weary.\" class=\"wp-image-37227\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250207-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0016_DSC7505A_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg 3000w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250207-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0016_DSC7505A_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250207-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0016_DSC7505A_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=768,513 768w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250207-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0016_DSC7505A_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=1024,683 1024w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250207-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0016_DSC7505A_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=1536,1025 1536w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250207-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0016_DSC7505A_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=2048,1367 2048w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250207-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0016_DSC7505A_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=863,576 863w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250207-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0016_DSC7505A_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=422,282 422w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250207-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0016_DSC7505A_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=552,368 552w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250207-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0016_DSC7505A_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=558,372 558w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250207-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0016_DSC7505A_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=527,352 527w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250207-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0016_DSC7505A_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=752,502 752w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250207-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0016_DSC7505A_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=1149,767 1149w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250207-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0016_DSC7505A_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=459,306 459w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250207-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0016_DSC7505A_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=2000,1335 2000w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250207-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0016_DSC7505A_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=400,267 400w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250207-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0016_DSC7505A_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=800,534 800w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250207-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0016_DSC7505A_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=1200,801 1200w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250207-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0016_DSC7505A_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=1600,1068 1600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1149px) 100vw, 1149px\" \/><figcaption class=\"attribution\"><span class=\"attribution__caption\">During the three months her family lived in hotels, Stradford\u2019s nonstop juggling act left her on edge.<\/span> <span class=\"attribution__credit\">Michelle Gabel for ProPublica<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Shelters are required to have enough qualified staff to meet residents\u2019 needs. The staff members generally have at least some training in how to handle populations with complex needs, said Elizabeth Bowen, an associate professor at the University at Buffalo School of Social Work.<\/p>\n<p>After Stradford and her family lost their room at the Quality Inn, the county sanctioned them and declined to find them a new place to stay. Moses, who had just gotten a job at Dave &amp; Buster\u2019s, paid out of his own pocket for a room at the Red Roof Inn in Johnson City. When they arrived, the woman at the front desk saw their belongings and dogs and told them the motel wouldn\u2019t honor the reservation. They had used what little money was left on Ubers and the room deposit. The motel did not return requests for comment.<\/p>\n<p>As it rained, Stradford got ahold of the Department of Social Services and pleaded their case. The county decided to continue housing her family until her sanction could be appealed. It booked them at the Knights Inn, another 10 minutes down the road in a town called Endwell.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u201cI Got Into Protection Mode\u201d<\/h3>\n<p>Stradford\u2019s family became skilled at sleeping on a single bed at the Knights Inn. Stradford, Moses, Samir and 15-year-old De\u2019Vante would sleep side by side while Taylor slept horizontally at their feet.<\/p>\n<p>The rest of the facility was in chaos, Stradford said. She saw hypodermic needles and other drug paraphernalia lying in the grass and underneath the stairwell and people slumped over while standing beside the dumpster. Over about six years that the county used it for temporary housing, law enforcement and emergency services were summoned to the motel for 789 incidents, including assaults, overdoses, robberies, domestic disputes and mental health crises.<\/p>\n<div class=\"p-hide-print p-bb--size-full wp-block-propublica-ad-slot\">\n<div id=\"bsa-zone_1760102636564-5_123456\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-propublica-position-small bb--size-small-left p-bb--size-small-left\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" js-autosizes height=\"405\" width=\"527\" src=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250604-ProPublica-NY-Homeless-Motels-receipt-knights-inn-3.png\" alt=\"Illustration of a receipt with the text: Knights Inn. Endwell, New York. July 31, 2024. 22 nights @ $109.09 a day. TOTAL: $2,400.\" class=\"wp-image-37228\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250604-ProPublica-NY-Homeless-Motels-receipt-knights-inn-3.png 1302w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250604-ProPublica-NY-Homeless-Motels-receipt-knights-inn-3.png?resize=300,230 300w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250604-ProPublica-NY-Homeless-Motels-receipt-knights-inn-3.png?resize=768,590 768w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250604-ProPublica-NY-Homeless-Motels-receipt-knights-inn-3.png?resize=1024,786 1024w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250604-ProPublica-NY-Homeless-Motels-receipt-knights-inn-3.png?resize=863,663 863w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250604-ProPublica-NY-Homeless-Motels-receipt-knights-inn-3.png?resize=422,324 422w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250604-ProPublica-NY-Homeless-Motels-receipt-knights-inn-3.png?resize=552,424 552w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250604-ProPublica-NY-Homeless-Motels-receipt-knights-inn-3.png?resize=558,429 558w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250604-ProPublica-NY-Homeless-Motels-receipt-knights-inn-3.png?resize=527,405 527w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250604-ProPublica-NY-Homeless-Motels-receipt-knights-inn-3.png?resize=752,578 752w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250604-ProPublica-NY-Homeless-Motels-receipt-knights-inn-3.png?resize=1149,882 1149w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250604-ProPublica-NY-Homeless-Motels-receipt-knights-inn-3.png?resize=400,307 400w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250604-ProPublica-NY-Homeless-Motels-receipt-knights-inn-3.png?resize=800,614 800w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250604-ProPublica-NY-Homeless-Motels-receipt-knights-inn-3.png?resize=1200,922 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 527px) 100vw, 527px\" \/><figcaption class=\"attribution\"><span class=\"attribution__caption\">Note: Knights Inn charged $109.09 per day for two rooms for at least part of their stay.<\/span> <span class=\"attribution__credit\">Illustration by ProPublica<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The Knights Inn had a litany of issues that prevented it from passing Broome County Social Services\u2019 inspections from 2018 to 2021. According to inspection reports, the rooms were dimly lit due to missing light bulbs and broken lamps. The walls were stained and punched through, and the wallpaper peeled off. Some rooms\u2019 doors didn\u2019t lock. Windows didn\u2019t either or were broken. Carpets were torn, and inspectors found cockroaches in dressers.<\/p>\n<p>Health and safety issues plague hotels used as emergency shelters across the state. A 2020 state comptroller audit found that 60% of the hotels they reviewed outside New York City were in \u201cunsatisfactory\u201d condition \u2014 about the same as the percentage of shelters.<\/p>\n<p>One woman, who was living with her children in a motel south of Albany, showed paint flaking off their walls and mattresses covered in black mold. Two other parents placed in the motel said they felt that if the Department of Social Services caught them in private housing that resembled their living conditions, their kid could be taken away by Child Protective Services.<\/p>\n<p>OTDA requires social services agencies to inspect hotels housing families every six months. But an analysis of OTDA compliance data showed that social services districts often fail to keep up with hotel inspections: About 40% of the 351 hotels used to house homeless people outside New York City were out of date on their social services inspections as of mid-October or didn\u2019t have an inspection date listed.<\/p>\n<p>Farmer, the OTDA spokesperson, said that most hotels had been inspected within a year and that some others had stopped housing people.<\/p>\n<p>Even when social services agencies do inspections, records show they sometimes fail to take action. Hotels have to correct problems within 30 days, unless it\u2019s a safety problem. If they don\u2019t, counties are supposed to stop placing people there, according to a directive from OTDA.<\/p>\n<p>Records show that the Knights Inn fixed some of the issues as it went but continued to get written up in every inspection for two and a half years. Despite this, Broome County placed hundreds of social services cases there, earning the motel over $750,000.<\/p>\n<p>A Knights Inn manager, Aizaz Siddiqui, said that the motel moved people out of rooms that needed the most work until they were renovated.<\/p>\n<p>In January 2021, the county said it would stop placing people at the Knights Inn until the violations were corrected. The motel received a clean inspection in July 2022. But Stradford said the Knights Inn wouldn\u2019t give them toilet paper or fresh sheets, which are required in shelters. A bedsheet was used as a curtain for their rear window.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-propublica-position-small bb--size-small-right p-bb--size-small-right\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" js-autosizes height=\"703\" width=\"527\" src=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Copy-of-20240801_105201_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg\" alt=\"Taylor and Samir watch television in the motel room filled with suitcases and bags. A bedsheet acts as a curtain for the window.\" class=\"wp-image-37229\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Copy-of-20240801_105201_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg 2250w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Copy-of-20240801_105201_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=225,300 225w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Copy-of-20240801_105201_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=768,1024 768w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Copy-of-20240801_105201_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=1152,1536 1152w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Copy-of-20240801_105201_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=1536,2048 1536w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Copy-of-20240801_105201_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=863,1151 863w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Copy-of-20240801_105201_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=422,563 422w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Copy-of-20240801_105201_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=552,736 552w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Copy-of-20240801_105201_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=558,744 558w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Copy-of-20240801_105201_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=527,703 527w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Copy-of-20240801_105201_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=752,1003 752w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Copy-of-20240801_105201_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=1149,1532 1149w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Copy-of-20240801_105201_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=1200,1600 1200w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Copy-of-20240801_105201_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=400,533 400w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Copy-of-20240801_105201_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=800,1067 800w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Copy-of-20240801_105201_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=1600,2133 1600w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Copy-of-20240801_105201_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=2000,2667 2000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 527px) 100vw, 527px\" \/><figcaption class=\"attribution\"><span class=\"attribution__caption\">Taylor and Samir watch TV in the Knights Inn room.<\/span> <span class=\"attribution__credit\">Courtesy of Jasmine Stradford<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The family stayed for three weeks, but tensions with management boiled over when the family failed to get rid of their dogs by the deadline set by the motel. Eventually, the Knights Inn told them to leave. After giving them a few extra days to find other accommodations, Siddiqui called the police to remove them.<\/p>\n<p>Siddiqui said the families placed at the inn by the Department of Social Services deserve sympathy, but he still has to maintain order. \u201cIt\u2019s a tough situation to be in, and we try to work with them as much as we can,\u201d he said. \u201cBut again, we do have to fulfill our policies, and we have to stand by them.\u201d The motel declined to respond to additional questions about the conditions.<\/p>\n<p>Stradford\u2019s family didn\u2019t have anywhere else to go. As the State Police arrived, she planted herself on a red cooler in front of their room and refused to leave until the county found them somewhere to stay.<\/p>\n<div class=\"p-hide-print p-bb--size-full wp-block-propublica-ad-slot\">\n<div id=\"bsa-zone_1760102719203-6_123456\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Some community activists she met through local charity work showed up to support her and livestreamed the incident on Facebook.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-propublica-position-small bb--size-small-left p-bb--size-small-left\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" js-autosizes height=\"400\" width=\"527\" src=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250604-ProPublica-NY-Homeless-Motels-receipt-Motel-6-4.png\" alt=\"Illustration of a receipt with the text: Motel 6. Binghamton, New York. August 22, 2024. 25 nights @ $190 a day. TOTAL: $4,750.\" class=\"wp-image-37230\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250604-ProPublica-NY-Homeless-Motels-receipt-Motel-6-4.png 1317w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250604-ProPublica-NY-Homeless-Motels-receipt-Motel-6-4.png?resize=300,228 300w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250604-ProPublica-NY-Homeless-Motels-receipt-Motel-6-4.png?resize=768,583 768w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250604-ProPublica-NY-Homeless-Motels-receipt-Motel-6-4.png?resize=1024,778 1024w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250604-ProPublica-NY-Homeless-Motels-receipt-Motel-6-4.png?resize=863,655 863w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250604-ProPublica-NY-Homeless-Motels-receipt-Motel-6-4.png?resize=422,320 422w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250604-ProPublica-NY-Homeless-Motels-receipt-Motel-6-4.png?resize=552,419 552w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250604-ProPublica-NY-Homeless-Motels-receipt-Motel-6-4.png?resize=558,424 558w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250604-ProPublica-NY-Homeless-Motels-receipt-Motel-6-4.png?resize=527,400 527w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250604-ProPublica-NY-Homeless-Motels-receipt-Motel-6-4.png?resize=752,571 752w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250604-ProPublica-NY-Homeless-Motels-receipt-Motel-6-4.png?resize=1149,872 1149w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250604-ProPublica-NY-Homeless-Motels-receipt-Motel-6-4.png?resize=400,304 400w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250604-ProPublica-NY-Homeless-Motels-receipt-Motel-6-4.png?resize=800,607 800w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250604-ProPublica-NY-Homeless-Motels-receipt-Motel-6-4.png?resize=1200,911 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 527px) 100vw, 527px\" \/><figcaption class=\"attribution\"><span class=\"attribution__caption\">Note: Motel 6 charged $190 per day for two rooms.<\/span> <span class=\"attribution__credit\">Illustration by ProPublica<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>After a three-hour standoff, management relented and allowed the family to stay two more nights. One of the activists arrived with a U-Haul and drove their stuff to the Motel 6, a 15-minute drive back up the river, past the Econo Lodge on the outskirts of Binghamton.<\/p>\n<p>Things were initially calm at the Motel 6. But about three weeks into their stay, the Motel 6 complained to the county that Stradford had left the children alone, which they were told violated the motel\u2019s guest policy. Stradford said she was doing charity work at the time but complained that she couldn\u2019t attend school or meet the state\u2019s requirements to look for housing if she had to constantly supervise her children.<\/p>\n<p>The motel gave the family the weekend to leave. When they missed their checkout time, the Sheriff\u2019s Office came to remove them.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-propublica-lead-in bb--size-small-right p-bb--size-small-right\">\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Read More<\/h3>\n<div class=\"wp-block-propublica-story-promo\">\n\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/article\/trump-hud-weakening-enforcement-fair-housing-laws\" class=\"story-promo\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"story-promo__art\">\n\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"459\" height=\"306\" src=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/20250506-Birks-HUD-Sequence-7_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?w=459&amp;h=306&amp;crop=1\" class=\"attachment-propublica-story-promo size-propublica-story-promo wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" js-autosizes=\"true\" \/>\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"story-promo__info\">\n\t\t\t<strong class=\"story-promo__hed\">How the Trump Administration Is Weakening the Enforcement of Fair Housing Laws<\/strong>\n\t\t<\/div>\n<p>\t<\/a>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Moses called Stradford, who was at school, to tell her what was happening. She headed to the Department of Social Services to plead their case.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI got into protection mode,\u201d Stradford said. \u201cI wasn\u2019t going to leave there and just put myself in a seriously homeless situation. So I told them I wasn\u2019t leaving until I knew that we had a secure spot to go to.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But her attempts failed. The agency said it would no longer help her family due to the complaints. The clerk used a special tool to unlock the room for the deputies.<\/p>\n<p>Community members once again showed up to livestream the encounter and pressure the county. The Sheriff\u2019s Office helped the family find a motel, where it stayed for two more nights.<\/p>\n<p>In the end, it wasn\u2019t New York\u2019s social services system that found stable housing for Stradford\u2019s family; it was a local landlord who heard about the case and offered an apartment at a rate the family could afford on Moses\u2019 wages and temporary assistance from the county.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-propublica-position-medium bb--size-medium p-bb--size-medium\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" js-autosizes height=\"1091\" width=\"752\" src=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250207-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0051_DSC7555A_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg\" alt=\"Moses holds Samir to his chest as Moses smiles and Samir smiles shyly at the camera with his finger wrapped around the drawstring of Moses\u2019 hoodie.\" class=\"wp-image-37231\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250207-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0051_DSC7555A_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg 2068w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250207-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0051_DSC7555A_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=207,300 207w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250207-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0051_DSC7555A_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=768,1114 768w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250207-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0051_DSC7555A_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=706,1024 706w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250207-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0051_DSC7555A_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=1059,1536 1059w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250207-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0051_DSC7555A_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=1412,2048 1412w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250207-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0051_DSC7555A_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=863,1252 863w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250207-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0051_DSC7555A_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=422,612 422w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250207-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0051_DSC7555A_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=552,801 552w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250207-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0051_DSC7555A_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=558,809 558w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250207-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0051_DSC7555A_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=527,765 527w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250207-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0051_DSC7555A_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=752,1091 752w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250207-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0051_DSC7555A_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=1149,1667 1149w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250207-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0051_DSC7555A_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=1103,1600 1103w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250207-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0051_DSC7555A_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=400,580 400w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250207-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0051_DSC7555A_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=800,1161 800w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250207-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0051_DSC7555A_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=1200,1741 1200w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250207-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0051_DSC7555A_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=1600,2321 1600w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250207-Gabel-NY-Homeless-Motels-0051_DSC7555A_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=2000,2901 2000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 752px) 100vw, 752px\" \/><figcaption class=\"attribution\"><span class=\"attribution__caption\">Moses holds Samir in the family\u2019s new apartment.<\/span> <span class=\"attribution__credit\">Michelle Gabel for ProPublica<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Stradford\u2019s family was placed in hotels for 89 days, about the average for a social services case. Many stay far longer. More than 1,500 individuals and families spent six months or more in hotels, according to payment data from the 2024 fiscal year.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSome of us really get into a hard time and we really do need the help. We don\u2019t just rely on the system,\u201d Stradford said. \u201cI pay my hard-earned tax dollars. I worked multiple jobs. I\u2019m the one that tried to keep afloat and stuff like that. But things happen in life.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Between their six moves, the family lost most of its possessions: furniture, Social Security cards, birth certificates, tax documents, family photos, laptops, coats, a painting from someone Jasmine was taking care of, Samir\u2019s toy box, Taylor\u2019s art projects and a blanket covered in motivational quotes that Stradford\u2019s mom had given her before she passed. They had to give up two of their dogs.<\/p>\n<div class=\"p-hide-print p-bb--size-full wp-block-propublica-ad-slot\">\n<div id=\"bsa-zone_1760102804706-4_123456\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>When they arrived at their new home, they had only a couple of suitcases and garbage bags full of clothes.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-propublica-position-small bb--size-small p-bb--size-small\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" js-autosizes height=\"599\" width=\"527\" src=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250604-ProPublica-NY-Homeless-Motels-all-receipts-1.png\" alt=\"Illustration of a receipt with the text: Econo Lodge: $1,872. Quality Inn: $1,260. Knights Inn: $2,400. Motel 6: $4,750. GRAND TOTAL: $10,282.\" class=\"wp-image-37232\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250604-ProPublica-NY-Homeless-Motels-all-receipts-1.png 1000w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250604-ProPublica-NY-Homeless-Motels-all-receipts-1.png?resize=264,300 264w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250604-ProPublica-NY-Homeless-Motels-all-receipts-1.png?resize=768,873 768w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250604-ProPublica-NY-Homeless-Motels-all-receipts-1.png?resize=901,1024 901w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250604-ProPublica-NY-Homeless-Motels-all-receipts-1.png?resize=863,981 863w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250604-ProPublica-NY-Homeless-Motels-all-receipts-1.png?resize=422,480 422w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250604-ProPublica-NY-Homeless-Motels-all-receipts-1.png?resize=552,628 552w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250604-ProPublica-NY-Homeless-Motels-all-receipts-1.png?resize=558,634 558w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250604-ProPublica-NY-Homeless-Motels-all-receipts-1.png?resize=527,599 527w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250604-ProPublica-NY-Homeless-Motels-all-receipts-1.png?resize=752,855 752w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250604-ProPublica-NY-Homeless-Motels-all-receipts-1.png?resize=400,455 400w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250604-ProPublica-NY-Homeless-Motels-all-receipts-1.png?resize=800,910 800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 527px) 100vw, 527px\" \/><figcaption class=\"attribution\"><span class=\"attribution__credit\">Illustration by ProPublica<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<aside class=\"bb--size-medium wp-block-propublica-aside p-bb--size-medium\">\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How We Measured Hotel Stays<\/h3>\n<p>To track temporary housing recipients placed in hotels, New York Focus and ProPublica used data obtained from the New York Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance through an open records request. The data contains 1.1 million payments issued from April 2017 to September 2024 for emergency shelter stays outside New York City. OTDA repeatedly delayed releasing the data for 10 months but finally did so after ProPublica\u2019s attorneys got involved in the appeals process.<\/p>\n<p>The data classified payments by type of shelter, including family shelters, transitional housing and hotels. It also included an \u201cemergency shelter\u201d category for temporary housing assistance provided before a case is fully approved, which can flow to both hotels and shelters.<\/p>\n<p>Our analysis includes only payments explicitly classified as hotel payments. We excluded some payments that were classified as hotel payments but where the recipients appeared to be nonprofits that operated homeless shelters.<\/p>\n<p>The data also included unique IDs for each assistance case that received shelter, allowing us to determine how many people stayed in hotels and for about how long. Each case represents either an individual or a family.<\/p>\n<p>To find hotels that housed mostly welfare recipients, New York Focus and ProPublica relied on each hotel\u2019s total number of rooms reported to the New York State Department of Health and checked whether shelter payments covered at least half of the hotel\u2019s total capacity from April 1, 2023, to March 31, 2024.<\/p>\n<p>The data listed the start and end date for each payment, but it was not always clear whether the stay was inclusive or exclusive of the final date. As a result, we chose to exclude the final night whenever counting up dates to create the most conservative estimates possible, unless the payment covered a single night. When comparing the payments against fair market rent, we included the final night, which would decrease the daily rate.<\/p>\n<p>Hotels used to house homeless families outside New York City must be inspected by counties once every six months. After that, the district has 30 days to submit the report to OTDA for review.<\/p>\n<p>OTDA provided a database of inspections for hotels as of Oct. 15, 2024. To determine whether a hotel was past due on inspection, we checked whether the most recent inspection was completed and submitted to OTDA in the seven months leading up to that date. In some cases, the inspection may have been conducted but was not submitted to the state on time.<\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"wp-block-query is-layout-flow wp-block-query-is-layout-flow\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading screen-reader-text\">Corrections<\/h2>\n<\/aside>\n<aside class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-propublica-notes--bottom wp-block-propublica-notes\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-propublica-note--tips-callout wp-block-propublica-note\">\n<p>This story was supported by the journalism nonprofit the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.economichardship.org\">Economic Hardship Reporting Project<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>If you have been placed in a hotel or have information about the use of hotels as emergency housing in New York, contact New York Focus reporter Spencer Norris at 570-690-3469 or <a href=\"\/cdn-cgi\/l\/email-protection#a0d3d0c5cec3c5d2e0ced9d3c6cfc3d5d38ec3cfcd\"><span class=\"__cf_email__\" data-cfemail=\"c8bbb8ada6abadba88a6b1bbaea7abbdbbe6aba7a5\">[email&#160;protected]<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-block-propublica-note--contributor-line wp-block-propublica-note\">\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/people\/joel-jacobs\">Joel Jacobs<\/a> contributed data reporting.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<footer class=\"wp-block-group entry-footer is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-template-part\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-query is-layout-flow wp-block-query-is-layout-flow\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading screen-reader-text\">Contributors<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-content-justification-right is-nowrap is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-95163ec0 wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\" style=\"border-top-color:var(--p-dyn-color-gray-01);border-top-width:1px;padding-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--p-spacing-3)\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-propublica-republish-link\" data-component=\"republish-link\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button is-style-outline is-style-outline--3\"><button type=\"button\" class=\"wp-block-button__link wp-element-button wp-block-propublica-republish-link__open-button\">Republish This Story<\/button><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div\n\t\tclass=\"wp-block-propublica-republish-link__modal wp-block-propublica-republish-link__modal--hidden\"\n\t\trole=\"dialog\"\n\t\taria-modal=\"true\"\n\t\taria-hidden=\"true\"\n\t\taria-labelledby=\"propublica-republish-link-label1\"\n\t\taria-description=\"propublica-republish-link-description2\"\n\t><\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-propublica-republish-link__modal__header\">\n\t<button type=\"button\" class=\"wp-block-propublica-republish-link__close-button\" aria-label=\"Close\"><br \/>\n\t\t<svg aria-hidden=\"true\" focusable=\"false\" width=\"24\" height=\"24\"><use href=\"#am-symbol-close\"><\/use><\/svg>\t<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-block-propublica-republish-link__modal__content\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-propublica-republish-link__modal__instructions\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-propublica-republish-link__modal-hed\" id=\"propublica-republish-link-label1\">Republish This Story for Free<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-propublica-republish-link__modal-license\" id=\"propublica-republish-link-description2\"><a rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-nd\/3.0\/\">Creative Commons License (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0)<\/a><\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<p>\n\t\tThank you for your interest in republishing this story. 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(To inquire about syndication or licensing opportunities, contact <a href=\"\/cdn-cgi\/l\/email-protection#9af6f3f9fff4e9f3f4fddaeae8f5eaeff8f6f3f9fbb4f5e8fd\"><span class=\"__cf_email__\" data-cfemail=\"e884818b8d869b81868fa8989a87989d8a84818b89c6879a8f\">[email&#160;protected]<\/span><\/a>.)\t\t<\/li>\n<li>\n\t\t\tYou can&#039;t use our work to populate a website designed to improve rankings on search engines or solely to gain revenue from network-based advertisements.\t\t<\/li>\n<li>\n\t\t\tWe do not generally permit translation of our stories into another language.\n\t\t<\/li>\n<li>\n\t\t\tAny website our stories appear on must include a prominent and effective way to contact you.\t\t<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-block-propublica-republish-link__modal__copy\">\n\t<label><br \/>\n\t\t<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">HTML<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\t\t<textarea readonly tabindex=\"-1\"><\/p>\n<h1>Her Family Needed Housing. They Spent Months in New York Hotels, Left to Fend for Themselves.<\/h1>\n<p>Jasmine Stradford sat on her porch near Binghamton, New York, with toys, furniture, garbage bags full of clothing and other possessions piled up around her. She and her partner were being evicted after falling behind on rent.<\/p>\n<p>So last June, they and their children \u2014 then ages 3, 12 and 15 \u2014 turned to New York\u2019s emergency shelter system for help. It was built to provide homeless residents not only beds, but also food, help finding permanent housing and sometimes child care so parents can find work, attend school or look for apartments.<\/p>\n<p>Stradford and her family received almost none of that. Instead of placing them in a shelter, the Broome County Department of Social Services cycled them through four roadside hotels over three months, where they mostly had to fend for themselves.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI remember staring at my kids, thinking that I\u2019d failed them,\u201d Stradford said. \u201cThen I remember going to DSS and being completely dehumanized.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Stradford\u2019s family was part of a growing trend: In the past few years, hotels have quietly become the state\u2019s predominant response to homelessness outside New York City. New York Focus and ProPublica found that the state\u2019s social services agencies placed just under half the 34,000 individuals and families receiving emergency shelter outside the city in fiscal year 2024 in hotels \u2014 up from 29% in 2018. The change was most pronounced in Broome County, where hotel cases more than quintupled.<\/p>\n<p>Statewide spending on hotels more than tripled over that period to $110 million, according to an analysis of state temporary housing data by the news organizations. In total, hotels outside New York City were paid about $420 million to shelter unhoused people from April 2017 to September 2024.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a makeshift arrangement that provides people a roof over their head but little else. State regulations exempt hotels from providing the same services that families are supposed to receive in the shelter system.<\/p>\n<p>The hotels are \u201cless supportive, less conducive for good health outcomes, good education outcomes,\u201d said Adam Bosch, CEO of Hudson Valley Pattern for Progress, a policy research nonprofit. \u201cIf our ultimate goal is to get people moving back toward independence, sticking them in a hotel on a hillside away from services, away from schools, away from transportation networks is not a great strategy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Homelessness in New York City received intense media coverage as the migrant crisis became fodder in the presidential election. But far less attention has been paid to the homeless population throughout the rest of New York, which far surpasses most other states on its own.<\/p>\n<p>Few of the migrants were relocated to hotels outside the city. Instead, the spike in hotel housing stems from a combination of soaring rent, dozens of shelter closures and what housing advocates and industry representatives said was a botched response to the end of the state\u2019s pandemic-related eviction moratorium in 2022. After the moratorium ended, landlords began evicting tenants at rates exceeding previous years. With fewer shelters and more people in need, the number of individuals and families placed in hotels shot up.<\/p>\n<p>Barbara Guinn, the commissioner of the state Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance, said in an interview that her agency hadn\u2019t studied the growth in hotel use for emergency shelter. The trend has been scarcely mentioned at legislative hearings in Albany.<\/p>\n<p>But OTDA, which supervises the county social services offices, has long known about the problems the hotels present. In early 2020, state auditors warned the agency that it wasn\u2019t adequately overseeing shelters, including hotels used as temporary housing. OTDA acknowledged that hotels present challenges because they don\u2019t have on-site support services or the same level of supervision as shelters.<\/p>\n<p>Rules clarifying the requirement that temporary housing recipients in hotels receive shelter-like services have been on OTDA\u2019s regulatory agenda for at least four years. But the agency, and lawmakers who oversee it, stood by as hotel housing increased. Guinn said she couldn\u2019t \u201cprovide insight\u201d on why the agency never formally proposed the rules, but she committed to advancing them this year. The Broome County Department of Social Services did not make its commissioner, Nancy Williams, available for an interview and did not respond to a detailed list of questions.<\/p>\n<p>Reporting across the state, the news organizations found people living for months and sometimes years in hotels, doing what they can to get by. Families share beds while their belongings fill the corners of their rooms. Without kitchens and barred from using most appliances, they trek down shoulderless highways to grocery stores or scour food pantries for anything they can cook in a microwave. They squish cockroaches skittering in dressers. And hotels often force them to move out every few weeks, keeping stability out of reach.<\/p>\n<p>The four hotels that Stradford\u2019s family was placed in last summer collectively made about $10,000 sheltering it over three months \u2014\u00a0more than what the family owed in back rent. That works out to more than twice the monthly fair market rent for a four-bedroom apartment in Binghamton at the time.<\/p>\n<p>This isn\u2019t unusual. County social services offices regularly pay the hotels rates that are worth many times fair market rent for permanent housing in their areas, according to the analysis of OTDA\u2019s housing payment data. One motel in Rome, outside Utica, that was the scene of a shooting last fall charged the county $250 a night for a room at times, according to invoices submitted to the county\u2019s Department of Social Services.<\/p>\n<p>Over three months, Stradford\u2019s family struggled to maintain some semblance of its old life while bouncing from hotel to hotel. The family would lose countless possessions. The kids\u2019 educations would be disrupted, as the school bus failed to keep up with their moves. Their experiences would show the importance of the services they weren\u2019t receiving and what happens to New York\u2019s homeless families when they can\u2019t access them.<\/p>\n<h3>\u201cIt\u2019s Like Malpractice\u201d<\/h3>\n<p>Stradford and her partner, Tiberious Moses, had been evicted after she missed work at a children\u2019s group home while recovering from surgery and Moses struggled to support the family with temporary jobs. At first, Stradford was relieved when the Department of Social Services informed her that it would place them in a hotel instead of a shelter.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGoing to the hotel, I originally thought, \u2018OK, this gives a little bit more leeway, a little bit more comfort, hospitality, all of that,\u2019 only to find out that it\u2019s not that at all,\u201d she said. \u201cIf you are a DSS recipient, you\u2019re nothing. You are the bottom of the pit.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Stradford\u2019s family \u2014 two adults, three children and four dogs \u2014 was packed into a room with two beds at an Econo Lodge sandwiched between a gas station and another budget hotel. Stradford said she found cockroaches and had trouble getting the hotel to clean their room. She said she often saw drug use at the hotel and felt unsafe. Law enforcement and emergency services were called to the hotel 116 times in the first half of that year, dispatch logs show.<\/p>\n<p>Despite those conditions, the Econo Lodge received more money to house temporary assistance recipients than any other known hotel outside New York City, according to the OTDA payments data for the 2024 fiscal year. The hotel, now called Hillside Inn &amp; Suites, served more than 900 individuals and families placed by the Department of Social Services for at least 30,000 total nights, earning over $2.3 million.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re forced to rent hotel rooms across the state, and the operators of these places understand that,\u201d said state Sen. Roxanne Persaud, chair of the chamber\u2019s Social Services Committee. \u201cThe municipalities\u2019 backs are against the wall. And so they must place the unhoused person or persons somewhere. And so that\u2019s why you see the cost is skyrocketing, because people understand that it\u2019s an easy way to make money off the government.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>OTDA\u2019s regulations say hotels should be considered shelters and provide services if they are used \u201cprimarily\u201d as temporary housing for homeless welfare recipients. At least 16 hotels appear to house mostly welfare recipients, the analysis showed.<\/p>\n<p>OTDA spokesperson Anthony Farmer said the agency interprets \u201cprimarily\u201d to mean hotels that \u201chouse recipients exclusively, or almost exclusively, throughout the year.\u201d He said that hotels aren\u2019t required to deliver services but that county social services agencies \u201care responsible for some level of service provision.\u201d The state, however, doesn\u2019t regularly collect information on how counties provide services. Guinn said OTDA plans to create a formal process for counties to submit it under new regulations.<\/p>\n<p>The Econo Lodge\u2019s contract with Broome County doesn\u2019t call for the services offered by shelters, like food and assistance finding housing. It requires the hotel to provide little more than a room with housekeeping, linens and toiletries. The hotel\u2019s CEO, Paresh Patel, declined to comment.<\/p>\n<p>In contrast, traditional shelters often put a significant amount of their funding toward social services. Shelter budgets obtained from OTDA show that they frequently retain at least part-time employees to prepare food and help people find jobs and housing. Local social services offices try to offset the lack of on-site services by hiring caseworkers but have struggled <a href=\"https:\/\/nysfocus.com\/2023\/06\/05\/social-services-workers-quitting-benefits-snap-food-stamps\">to retain them<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Instead, hotel residents like Stradford\u2019s family are caught in a web of conflicts between the way those services are provided, the strings attached to benefits and the rules and limitations of living in hotels. Social services departments might provide them food stamps to buy groceries, but hotel residents usually don\u2019t have kitchens and are often not allowed to have appliances like hot plates. To keep their lodging, they\u2019re generally required to seek housing and to work or look for jobs, but they often don\u2019t receive child care. They have to regularly meet with caseworkers at social services offices but must rely on spotty public transportation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo me, it\u2019s like malpractice as a homeless services provider to place people without support services\u201d in hotels, said Deborah Padgett, a professor of social work at New York University. \u201cIt\u2019s good in the sense that they get more privacy, but for them to get a life and not be dependent on the government, they need to be close to services and not be punished for making mistakes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Guinn said that her agency would prefer counties use regulated shelters in housing emergencies but that there aren\u2019t enough beds to accommodate everyone. Social services offices must rely on hotels when shelters don\u2019t have space or don\u2019t exist in a particular county, Farmer said in an email.<\/p>\n<p>After 26 nights, Broome County relocated Stradford\u2019s family to the Quality Inn &amp; Suites in Vestal, a Binghamton suburb down the Susquehanna River that\u2019s home to Binghamton University. Stradford\u2019s car had been repossessed, so they stuffed a suitcase and the kids\u2019 book bags with as many clothes as they could and hopped on the bus.<\/p>\n<p>At the Quality Inn, the family struggled to eat. They had applied for food stamps, but Stradford said she couldn\u2019t get wage records from her former employer proving she was eligible. Instead, the county provided them a restaurant allowance worth about $15 a day to cover all five of them. To get by, they took the bus to food pantries like Catholic Charities, which had started creating \u201chotel bags\u201d stuffed with canned food, oatmeal, crackers, macaroni and cheese and snacks for the kids \u2014 anything that could be eaten cold or prepared with a microwave.<\/p>\n<p>While many shelters provide food on site, contracts between the hotels and Broome County forbid emergency housing recipients from eating the hotels\u2019 food. Stradford said her family was threatened with removal from the Quality Inn after her 12-year-old daughter, Taylor, tried to eat the continental breakfast.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen we first started taking families on, we did allow breakfast, and unfortunately there was too much being carried away, so we chose to change that,\u201d the hotel\u2019s general manager, Bernadine Morris, said. The Quality Inn has since closed and could not be reached for follow-up questions.<\/p>\n<p>People can get kicked out of hotels and lose their housing assistance for repeatedly violating hotels\u2019 policies, including by using their own cooking appliances. One woman who previously lived at the Motel 6 in Binghamton said she avoided sanctions by throwing an extension cord from the window of her second-story room to use a pressure cooker on the sidewalk.<\/p>\n<p>Stradford\u2019s nonstop juggling act left her on edge. She was grieving her mother\u2019s death, feeding five people and four dogs, apartment-hunting and hustling to culinary classes and social services appointments. She said her children started feeling the stress too: Her 3-year-old, Samir, was wetting the bed frequently, and the older kids missed classes for their summer courses.<\/p>\n<p>The family began butting heads with Quality Inn managers, who accused them of being disruptive and terminated their stay, according to Stradford\u2019s social services case file.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m not totally surprised that they run into problems with the hotel supervisors and the staff just because they\u2019re trying to find some way to get their needs attended to, and it\u2019s not really fair to expect the hotel to do what those people are not trained to do,\u201d Padgett said.<\/p>\n<p>Shelters are required to have enough qualified staff to meet residents\u2019 needs. The staff members generally have at least some training in how to handle populations with complex needs, said Elizabeth Bowen, an associate professor at the University at Buffalo School of Social Work.<\/p>\n<p>After Stradford and her family lost their room at the Quality Inn, the county sanctioned them and declined to find them a new place to stay. Moses, who had just gotten a job at Dave &amp; Buster\u2019s, paid out of his own pocket for a room at the Red Roof Inn in Johnson City. When they arrived, the woman at the front desk saw their belongings and dogs and told them the motel wouldn\u2019t honor the reservation. They had used what little money was left on Ubers and the room deposit. The motel did not return requests for comment.<\/p>\n<p>As it rained, Stradford got ahold of the Department of Social Services and pleaded their case. The county decided to continue housing her family until her sanction could be appealed. It booked them at the Knights Inn, another 10 minutes down the road in a town called Endwell.<\/p>\n<h3>\u201cI Got Into Protection Mode\u201d<\/h3>\n<p>Stradford\u2019s family became skilled at sleeping on a single bed at the Knights Inn. Stradford, Moses, Samir and 15-year-old De\u2019Vante would sleep side by side while Taylor slept horizontally at their feet.<\/p>\n<p>The rest of the facility was in chaos, Stradford said. She saw hypodermic needles and other drug paraphernalia lying in the grass and underneath the stairwell and people slumped over while standing beside the dumpster. Over about six years that the county used it for temporary housing, law enforcement and emergency services were summoned to the motel for 789 incidents, including assaults, overdoses, robberies, domestic disputes and mental health crises.<\/p>\n<p>The Knights Inn had a litany of issues that prevented it from passing Broome County Social Services\u2019 inspections from 2018 to 2021. According to inspection reports, the rooms were dimly lit due to missing light bulbs and broken lamps. The walls were stained and punched through, and the wallpaper peeled off. Some rooms\u2019 doors didn\u2019t lock. Windows didn\u2019t either or were broken. Carpets were torn, and inspectors found cockroaches in dressers.<\/p>\n<p>Health and safety issues plague hotels used as emergency shelters across the state. A 2020 state comptroller audit found that 60% of the hotels they reviewed outside New York City were in \u201cunsatisfactory\u201d condition \u2014 about the same as the percentage of shelters.<\/p>\n<p>One woman, who was living with her children in a motel south of Albany, showed paint flaking off their walls and mattresses covered in black mold. Two other parents placed in the motel said they felt that if the Department of Social Services caught them in private housing that resembled their living conditions, their kid could be taken away by Child Protective Services.<\/p>\n<p>OTDA requires social services agencies to inspect hotels housing families every six months. But an analysis of OTDA compliance data showed that social services districts often fail to keep up with hotel inspections: About 40% of the 351 hotels used to house homeless people outside New York City were out of date on their social services inspections as of mid-October or didn\u2019t have an inspection date listed.<\/p>\n<p>Farmer, the OTDA spokesperson, said that most hotels had been inspected within a year and that some others had stopped housing people.<\/p>\n<p>Even when social services agencies do inspections, records show they sometimes fail to take action. Hotels have to correct problems within 30 days, unless it\u2019s a safety problem. If they don\u2019t, counties are supposed to stop placing people there, according to a directive from OTDA.<\/p>\n<p>Records show that the Knights Inn fixed some of the issues as it went but continued to get written up in every inspection for two and a half years. Despite this, Broome County placed hundreds of social services cases there, earning the motel over $750,000.<\/p>\n<p>A Knights Inn manager, Aizaz Siddiqui, said that the motel moved people out of rooms that needed the most work until they were renovated.<\/p>\n<p>In January 2021, the county said it would stop placing people at the Knights Inn until the violations were corrected. The motel received a clean inspection in July 2022. But Stradford said the Knights Inn wouldn\u2019t give them toilet paper or fresh sheets, which are required in shelters. A bedsheet was used as a curtain for their rear window.<\/p>\n<p>The family stayed for three weeks, but tensions with management boiled over when the family failed to get rid of their dogs by the deadline set by the motel. Eventually, the Knights Inn told them to leave. After giving them a few extra days to find other accommodations, Siddiqui called the police to remove them.<\/p>\n<p>Siddiqui said the families placed at the inn by the Department of Social Services deserve sympathy, but he still has to maintain order. \u201cIt\u2019s a tough situation to be in, and we try to work with them as much as we can,\u201d he said. \u201cBut again, we do have to fulfill our policies, and we have to stand by them.\u201d The motel declined to respond to additional questions about the conditions.<\/p>\n<p>Stradford\u2019s family didn\u2019t have anywhere else to go. As the State Police arrived, she planted herself on a red cooler in front of their room and refused to leave until the county found them somewhere to stay.<\/p>\n<p>Some community activists she met through local charity work showed up to support her and livestreamed the incident on Facebook.<\/p>\n<p>After a three-hour standoff, management relented and allowed the family to stay two more nights. One of the activists arrived with a U-Haul and drove their stuff to the Motel 6, a 15-minute drive back up the river, past the Econo Lodge on the outskirts of Binghamton.<\/p>\n<p>Things were initially calm at the Motel 6. But about three weeks into their stay, the Motel 6 complained to the county that Stradford had left the children alone, which they were told violated the motel\u2019s guest policy. Stradford said she was doing charity work at the time but complained that she couldn\u2019t attend school or meet the state\u2019s requirements to look for housing if she had to constantly supervise her children.<\/p>\n<p>The motel gave the family the weekend to leave. When they missed their checkout time, the Sheriff\u2019s Office came to remove them.<\/p>\n<p>Moses called Stradford, who was at school, to tell her what was happening. She headed to the Department of Social Services to plead their case.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI got into protection mode,\u201d Stradford said. \u201cI wasn\u2019t going to leave there and just put myself in a seriously homeless situation. So I told them I wasn\u2019t leaving until I knew that we had a secure spot to go to.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But her attempts failed. The agency said it would no longer help her family due to the complaints. The clerk used a special tool to unlock the room for the deputies.<\/p>\n<p>Community members once again showed up to livestream the encounter and pressure the county. The Sheriff\u2019s Office helped the family find a motel, where it stayed for two more nights.<\/p>\n<p>In the end, it wasn\u2019t New York\u2019s social services system that found stable housing for Stradford\u2019s family; it was a local landlord who heard about the case and offered an apartment at a rate the family could afford on Moses\u2019 wages and temporary assistance from the county.<\/p>\n<p>Stradford\u2019s family was placed in hotels for 89 days, about the average for a social services case. Many stay far longer. More than 1,500 individuals and families spent six months or more in hotels, according to payment data from the 2024 fiscal year.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSome of us really get into a hard time and we really do need the help. We don\u2019t just rely on the system,\u201d Stradford said. \u201cI pay my hard-earned tax dollars. I worked multiple jobs. I\u2019m the one that tried to keep afloat and stuff like that. But things happen in life.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Between their six moves, the family lost most of its possessions: furniture, Social Security cards, birth certificates, tax documents, family photos, laptops, coats, a painting from someone Jasmine was taking care of, Samir\u2019s toy box, Taylor\u2019s art projects and a blanket covered in motivational quotes that Stradford\u2019s mom had given her before she passed. They had to give up two of their dogs.<\/p>\n<p>When they arrived at their new home, they had only a couple of suitcases and garbage bags full of clothes.<\/p>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/article\/new-york-homelessness-hotels\" \/>\n<meta name=\"syndication-source\" content=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/article\/new-york-homelessness-hotels\" \/><br \/>\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/pixel.propublica.org\/pixel.js\" async><\/script><br \/>\n<\/textarea>\t<\/label><\/p>\n<p>\t<button type=\"button\" class=\"wp-block-propublica-republish-link__copy-button\">Copy HTML<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/footer>\n<\/article>\n<p><\/main><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>From left to right: Jasmine Stradford; her partner, Tiberious Moses; and two of their children, Taylor and De\u2019Vante. The Broome County, New York, Department of Social Services cycled the family through four roadside hotels over three months. Michelle Gabel for ProPublica Her Family Needed Housing. They Spent Months in New York Hotels, Left to Fend [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":62,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/maxinefilmes.com\/odelator\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/maxinefilmes.com\/odelator\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/maxinefilmes.com\/odelator\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maxinefilmes.com\/odelator\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maxinefilmes.com\/odelator\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/maxinefilmes.com\/odelator\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":63,"href":"https:\/\/maxinefilmes.com\/odelator\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24\/revisions\/63"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maxinefilmes.com\/odelator\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/62"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/maxinefilmes.com\/odelator\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maxinefilmes.com\/odelator\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maxinefilmes.com\/odelator\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}