Monroe Co. Emergency Housing Executive Order no longer in effect (as DocGo done in Roc)

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — It has been one year and one week since the first families and individuals seeking asylum arrived in Rochester from New York City by way of mobile medical company DocGo. The temporary shelter location, per contract with DocGo/NYC, was the Holiday Inn on State Street. Last August, Governor Kathy Hochul also approved the National Guard to have members remain stationed on-site at the hotel, similar to other areas also included in the Upstate NY Asylum Influx Program.

When asking the state to confirm whether or not National Guard members were still in Rochester, News 8 was deferred to “New York City,” however no specific agency nor contact was provided.

County officials confirm to News 8 the Emergency Housing Executive Order, first issued by County Executive Adam Bello in May of 2023, is no longer in effect. It had been continuously re-issued on a rolling basis, however the Holiday Inn remained the sole applicant and recipient of any permission to shelter asylees.

Irene Sanchez is the Executive Director of the Western New York Coalition of Farm Worker Serving Agencies, one of the main groups assisting in the overall coordination of services during DocGo/NYC’s program. She tells News8, to-date, 381 asylum seeking individuals, which includes children, have completed the program; 84 families from countries all over the globe. Many of the new arrivals included people from Spanish-speaking countries, such as Venezuela and Columbia; other families made their journey from Russia, Haiti, and Uzbekistan. Thirteen families returned to New York City.

“When we first arrived to the hotel on August 7th, the families were residing in the 4th floor and the third floor was empty it, it was a floor that was not being in use and both of our organizations, IBERO and other agencies helped to clean it up and organize it as a way to be able to establish the case management services offices there,” Sanchez says, reflecting on how operations evolved during the past 11 months.

In the meantime, the hotel where families were being temporarily sheltered is dealing with several issues. According to public records, there are 149 current code violations associated with the property. Public records also show the current owner listed as “Horizon Edge Hospitality LLC”, however the City Communication Director confirmed to News8, Nayan Patel is still the owner.

More recent public records dated from Monday, August 12th show code violations including from ‘infestation of insects and rodents throughout the 1st floor,’ to inspectors not being able to even access the 5th floor, to another violation stating ’emergency lighting system must be made operable’ in the boiler room.

While unable to get into specifics, Sanchez did confirm the Coalition did address any issues which came up leaders and law enforcement.

“As an advocacy organization ourself we are very committed to make sure that people were treated with dignity in a respectful way and that the services were provided adequately, so since we have been there we’ve been advocating specifically for that, whatever we have identified or seen, we address it immediately, and I know that there has been other concerns about the hotel and the things that we have witnessed, we have reported to the authorities and the proper authorities including the Rochester Police Department, the county officials and also to the Attorney General’s Office,” Sanchez says.

As News8 previously reported, the City of Rochester says it issued several tickets to the owner of the hotel for non-compliance as well as a cease and desist notice. Due to new LLC laws in Rochester, the owner is also now facing penalties. News 8 has been working to confirm in total amount.

Wednesday, the Attorney General’s Office confirmed to News 8 its investigation into DocGo is still ongoing. News8 reporter Isabel Garcia also directly reached out to the hotel to ask for the owner and was, once again, told he is “out of town.”

News 8 also reached out to the Holiday Inn parent group, IHG Hotels in an attempt to reach the owner and have not yet heard back.

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