The owner of a Long Island castle hotel has offered his second hotel, in upstate New York, to the city as a migrant shelter, but says he has not heard back yet.
Gary Melius, owner of both the Oheka Castle and a Quality Inn in Massena, near the Canadian border, said he made the offer of the Quality Inn to Mayor Eric Adams several weeks ago.
Melius said the 115-room budget hotel, where rooms cost about $115 a night, is struggling and only has a 40 percent occupancy rate.
He said he could do with the city money, and the city needs the rooms.
Melius said he doesn’t understand why the Adams government, which is struggling to find rooms for all migrants, is not taking up his offer.
Gary Melius owns both the Oheka Castle and a Quality Inn in upstate New York, on the Canadian border. He offers the Quality Inn as a shelter for migrants
Melius offers this Quality Inn hotel in Massena to the city of New York as a reception center for migrants
Rooms at the Quality Inn are usually around $115 per night
Nearly 100,000 asylum seekers have arrived in New York City since spring 2022, and more than 56,000 migrants are currently in the city’s reception system.
The city pays hotel owners an agreed rate for the use of their facilities.
‘I keep trying. We could take 180 people. I do not get it. I don’t get it,’ said Melius.
A spokesperson for Adams said they were looking at Melius’ offer.
“My place is ideal,” Melius said in an interview with The New York Post.
‘The hotel is located in the center of the city. You don’t need transportation once you get here.
‘I have a kitchen. I own a restaurant. I have a catering facility.
“This would be very good for me, it would be very good for the city and very good for the migrants. It’s a win-win situation.’
Brad Gerstman, a lobbyist who works with Melius, told the paper he had asked all the hotel owners he knew if they had any space available for the city to house migrants.
“I want to help the city I love, so I’ve been looking to all my clients and people with whom I have other business relationships to find more space for the migrants,” says Gerstman.
Melius also owns the Oheka Castle Hotel on Long Island – a popular hotel and venue for weddings and events
The Oheka Castle was built in 1919. Rooms start at $495 per night through the hotel’s website
Al D’Amato, a New York senator from 1981 to 1999 and the last Republican to represent New York in Congress, said he was a regular at the Oheka Castle Hotel and supported Melius’ offer.
“It makes sense to Gary and the mayor,” said D’Amato, who has worked as a lobbyist since leaving Washington DC.
“The city is overwhelmed. This is the fault of the federal government for not securing the border, and it will only get worse if they don’t get the border under control.”
Adams opened a temporary shelter in McCarren Park in Brooklyn’s Greenpoint neighborhood this weekend and brought at least 60 migrant men to a community center in Sunset Park.
New York City mayor Eric Adams says the city is struggling to cope with the influx of migrants
Migrants are camped outside the Roosevelt Hotel in midtown Manhattan on August 2
Since the spring of 2022, nearly 100,000 asylum seekers have arrived in New York City. Migrants are seen outside the Roosevelt Hotel on August 2
Crowds of migrants are photographed outside the Roosevelt Hotel on August 2
A camp has also been set up on the grounds of the Creedmoor Psychiatric Center in Queens Village, and more than 100 New York City hotels have been converted into migrant shelters – most notably the 1,000-room Roosevelt Hotel in midtown Manhattan.
An Adams spokesperson told the Post they were exploring all options but needed more help from state and federal authorities.
“As we have said several times, with more than 95,000 asylum seekers passing through our intake system since last spring, all options remain on the table,” the spokesperson said.
“We continue to call on our state and federal partners to provide the necessary support.”