No NYC 5-Star Hotels For You: Mayor To Migrants On Latin America Trip

NEW YORK CITY — Mayor Eric Adams has a plan to stop asylum seekers to stop coming to New York City: tell them they won't stay in luxury hotels.

Myth busting migrants' ideas about the city will be a big part of Adams' trip to Latin America this week, the mayor said Tuesday.

Many migrants have heard they'll be able to stay in 5-star hotels and easily land jobs, he said. Hearing otherwise from the mayor of New York City could help slow the flow of asylum seekers into the city, he argued.

"If that can resonate and start that conversation there, I'm going to try it," he said.

"It would be foolish for me to sit back and not try to stop this on a local, state, national and international level."

Adams' four-day trip starts Wednesday and will take him to Mexico, Ecuador, Colombia and the Darién Gap, a dangerous jungle-filled passage that many migrants who end up in the U.S. have taken.

He said he'll pay for the trip and its security himself.

And his planned message highlighting New York City hardship isn't necessarily new, although it is unusual for the city's mayor to be anything less than a Big Apple booster.

City officials have distributed flyers near the U.S.-Mexico border that paint a grim portrait of life in general inside New York City.

"Housing in NYC is very expensive," one flyer states. "The cost of food, transportation, and other necessities in NYC is the highest in the United State (U.S.). Please consider another city as you make your decision about where to settle in the U.S."