Broome Fights NYC Move to Allow Use of Housing Vouchers in County

Hotels and motels in Broome County are being told not to make any deals to house homeless people from New York City.

County Executive Jason Garnar has issued an emergency order in response to the announcement by New York City Mayor Eric Adams that housing vouchers can be used elsewhere in the state.

The move is aimed at freeing up more space for the city to handle the thousands of migrants who have arrived from southern states.

Garnar told WNBF News the New York City vouchers provide far more money to people than the level of assistance available to individuals in Broome County.

The county executive said if the vouchers were accepted here, "it would price everybody out of rental properties" locally. It said "it would just cause havoc here."

Garnar said county officials learned that someone from New York City was visiting various hotels on Wednesday "looking to rent out hundreds of rooms for up to three years."

Hotel operators said the man indicated he was making arrangements to house migrants and homeless people from the city.

Garnar said the sheriff's office was alerted to the situation and the person was advised the effort would not be legal in Broome County.

The county executive said it's wrong for another entity "to take their big city money" in an effort "to give other people their problem."

Garnar said a "a lot of money" is being offered to Broome County businesses. He said "what New York City is saying with a voucher they will give somebody minimally a thousand dollars a month for a guaranteed five years." He said "think how lucrative that is to a motel."

The county executive said "New York City was trying to do this about five or six years ago in a much smaller way and we caught them doing that. But this is on a scale we have never seen before."

Garnar said "we're not going to just stand by and let it happen. We're doing everything we can to stop it."

A check of several hotel and motels along the Front Street corridor in the towns of Dickinson and Chenango Thursday afternoon revealed a sheriff's deputy had provided them with a copy of the new emergency order.

LISTEN: Broome County Executive Jason Garnar discusses a new Emergency Order on WNBF Radio on October 5, 2023.

Enter your number to get our free mobile app

Contact WNBF News reporter Bob Joseph: bob@wnbf.com. For breaking news and updates on developing stories, follow @BinghamtonNow on Twitter.