The administration of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has finalized a $1.86 billion agreement with the Hotel Association of New York City Foundation to provide emergency hotel accommodations for homeless residents over the next three years, according to officials familiar with the deal.
The agreement is designed to expand the city’s capacity to respond to homelessness, with tens of thousands of individuals currently relying on shelter services across the city.
Officials said the contract allows rooms to be activated as needed, depending on demand, rather than maintaining full occupancy at all times.
The foundation, which represents hundreds of hotels across New York City, will coordinate the availability of rooms under the agreement.
Its leadership said the program is focused on emergency housing needs and can scale up during extreme weather events or sudden increases in homelessness.
The deal builds on an existing contract between the city and the hotel association valued at about $929 million, which has been providing more than 10,000 rooms for homeless families since early 2025. A significant portion of that funding has already been used, officials said.
City authorities have increasingly relied on hotel-based shelter solutions since the pandemic, when centralized coordination replaced individual hotel agreements.
That system has continued as the city faces ongoing housing pressures and shelter demand.
Officials said the new agreement aims to ensure flexibility in emergency response while maintaining access to temporary housing for vulnerable residents across the city.
