Queens Hotel Won't House Texas-Sent Migrants Amid Dispute

NEW YORK CITY — Migrants sent from Texas to New York City won't be staying in a Queens hotel as originally planned, but not because of a controversial lawmaker's lobbying, city officials said.

Council Member Vickie Paladino on Monday said city officials reversed their plan to use 115 rooms of Hotel De Point in College Point to house migrants.

The reversal followed Paladino taking a firm stance against the plan Sunday. But city officials said Paladino was mistaken in taking credit — a contracting issue with the landlord scuttled the plan, not Paladino, they said.

"We did not move forward with this site because of a contracting issue but remain committed to identifying an alternative location in this area to provide shelter services," a Department of Social Services spokesperson said.

The migrant housing brouhaha in Queens comes amid a high-profile war of words — and political one-upmanship — over asylum seekers between Mayor Eric Adams and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.

Adams called Abbott and Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey "cowards" for sending away people who seek refuge in the United States, and accused them of quietly sending migrants to New York City.

Abbott, who claims migrants crossing the border are overwhelming Texas communities, eventually responded by openly sending busloads of asylum seekers to Penn Station.

"NYC is the ideal destination for these migrants," Abbott tweeted.

"They can receive the services Mayor Adams has boasted about w/in the sanctuary city."

The migrant busing plan drew harsh criticism from Adams, many local elected officials and advocates, who accused Abbott of using human beings as political pawns. One recent Texas-sent migrant bus had several people — including a three-month-old baby — who needed hospitalization or medical care after the long ride to the city.

Paladino, a Republican, called for the federal government to "close" the border with Mexico.

She argued that migrants in College Point would harm a community already with "homeless shelters and inadequate public transportation."

"Instead of helping us fix the roads, improve garbage collection, or enhance law enforcement, we get yet another burden," she said in a statement.