Secaucus Police Respond To More Reports Of Squatters At Empire Hotel

SECAUCUS, NJ — This past Wednesday night, Aug. 28, Secaucus Police were called to the former Empire hotel for reports of people sleeping inside the abandoned hotel, and squatting there.

"Nobody was found," said Police Chief Dennis Miller on Monday. "There were signs people were sleeping there, unknown who. There was NO evidence of drug use, etc."

This is the former Empire hotel overlooking the Hackensack River on Meadowlands Parkway. The hotel closed in 2017 as the property owner, Montreal-based real estate holding firm Rosdev, battled with the town to convert the building into condos.

However, the town of Secaucus did not give them the necessary approvals to convert the site to residential housing.

Ever since, the once-upscale hotel has fallen into severe ruin and disrepair: Its doors are unlocked. Windows are broken. The pool has collapsed and weeds have taken over. Bald eagles nest on its 14-story roof.

This is not the first report of homeless people squatting at the Empire: Secaucus Police routinely patrol the hotel, as the town gets reports from the public that homeless people are living there.

"There are people living in there," said one Secaucus resident last October. He who did not want to be named. "I see them coming out."

A California resident named Ashok Bhatt is currently leasing the Empire hotel building from Rosdev. As Patch exclusively reported last October, Bhatt owns other hotels, and he has used at least one of them to house migrants from the U.S.-Mexico border. Bhatt received a contract from New York City to house migrants.

He did this at Armoni Inn & Suites, a hotel he owns just over the state line in Rockland County, NY. Last year, he was sued by the town of Orangeburg, NY for doing this. Once Secaucus became aware of this, Secaucus town administrator Gary Jeffas made Bhatt sign a written agreement he would not use the Empire to house migrants.

Bhatt signed that agreement last fall.

This week, Bhatt told NJ.com that overzealous “neighborhood watch” types keep calling Secaucus Police to report squatters staying in his hotel.

Bhatt also told NJ.com he still plans to reopen the hotel, and run it as a regular hotel. He said he plans to name it Garden Plaza Hotel and said he still plans to open by the end of 2024.

Last October: Secaucus Hotel Owner Accused Of Trying To House Migrants In Past (Oct. 26, 2023)

Also last October: Secaucus Police Search Abandoned Hotel Amidst Reports Of Squatters Living There