Albany hotels used as migrant shelters set to close in December

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- The hotels in the city of Albany that were being used as migrant shelters are set to close in December. City Hall officials in New York City told NEWS10 that the hotel sites to house migrants, who were bussed to the Capital Region from New York City, will close before the end of the year.

The Ramada Plaza will close Dec. 10, and the Holiday Inn Express, now known as Albany Hotel, will close Dec. 13. There are approximately 400 migrants between the two hotels, according to officials. Resettlement efforts have helped many of the migrants move out of the shelter system.

A spokesperson for NYC City Hall issued the following statement to NEWS10:

"We’ve come a long way since the first buses from Texas arrived in our city over two years ago, when we were working around the clock to care for the thousands of people who were arriving every week. Now, thanks to our resettlement efforts, intensive case management, and national-leading Asylum Application Help Center, more than 160,000 migrants have left our shelter system and taken their next steps towards self-sufficiency. And thanks to our advocacy efforts on the federal level and executive orders issued by the Biden-Harris administration, we continue to see a decline in the number of people entering our shelter system every week. Our staff is on hand to help guests at our upstate shelters plan for next steps over these next two months, and those without an exit plan by December will be offered temporary placement in New York City.”

The spokesperson said more than 700 migrants entered their care while more than 1,000 migrants left their care between Oct. 28 and Nov. 3. The total census in their care outside NYC is over 1,100.

The city has other sites housing migrants in Dutchess, Erie, Orange and Westchester Counties. They are closing on a staggered basis between Dec. 8-19.