Another Queens hotel is now housing homeless people. NY1's Shannan Ferry has the details from Ozone Park.
The Comfort Inn & Suites on Redding St. is a hotel, but now it's also a homeless shelter.
The city said it's using some rooms at the hotel to place homeless families with children.
"I don't think it's fair for anyone, it's not fair for the kids, as well as like, the existing neighborhood," said Ozone Park resident Joseph Caruana.
Elected officials said they were notified last week that the city placed 50 homeless families at the hotel.
Sources said the city has been quietly using the facility for months, but many in the community are just finding out.
"We could've made other arrangements for these children, gotten them into an area or homes possibly," said Ozone Park resident Joanne Cutitto.
State Assemblywoman Stacey Pheffer Amato said she's drafting a bill that would require agencies to notify local lawmakers 45 days before placing the homeless in a neighborhood.
"So, therefore we can work with these families and provide the best services for them," she said.
The Comfort Inn is just one of a number of hotels that have been used to house the homeless in the borough. It's a solution some lawmakers and residents said is unacceptable.
"There's so much property that's vacant that they can make homeless shelters rather than paying out all tax peoples dollars to rent places out," said Howard Kamph, President of the Ozone Park Civic Association.
Isaac McGinn, a spokesperson with the Department of Homeless Services said in a statement "We are using hotels as a bridge to shelter homeless New Yorkers while we work to increase shelter capacity citywide."
We were unable to reach the hotel owner. However, Amato said she met with the owner last week along with City Councilman Eric Ulrich and State Senator Joseph Addabbo.
The elected officials said the owner noted there is curfew in place for the homeless families. DHS said they're also working with the NYPD on security.