Shake Shack founder Danny Meyer announced that he will be shuttering two Manhattan restaurants after the hotel they were located in was repurposed as a shelter to house illegal migrants.
Service at Marta and Maialino, Meyer’s establishments housed in Redbury Hotel near Madison Square Park, will end on August 25 after 100 migrant families moved into the property earlier this month.
“As tenants of the Redbury, our two restaurants, which occupy the lobby floor, have been eagerly anticipating the hotel’s full post-pandemic reopening. Now, as the Redbury partners with the City to house asylum seekers, it’s become clear that the timeline for that reopening has been extended indefinitely,” a spokeswoman representing Meyer’s company, Union Square Hospitality Group, told Eater: New York, in an official statement.
However, through the spokeswoman, Meyer – who is a prominent Democratic Party donor – reaffirmed his support for the migrant housing policies New York City has been forced to enact as it grapples with accommodating tens-of-thousands of illegal migrants. “While we admire and respect the Redbury’s decision, the viability of our business relies significantly on hotel-related F&B operations, including event venues and the lobby bar, spaces that are now unavailable for our use.”
A survey taken in July indicates that there are over 100,000 people were reliant on New York City shelters, forcing city officials to commandeer hotels and other commercial spaces. The Adams administration estimates that the strain of housing migrants could cost as much as $4.3 billion by the end of the year.
“A lot of the folks that we’re getting now are coming from other parts of the United States, where other people in other cities are running out of space,” deputy mayor Anne Williams-Isom told reporters during a press conference on Wednesday. “Since we have a front door that is open, people are finding themselves here.”
In mid July, New York City mayor Eric Adams greenlit the construction of temporary housing sites to host 1,000 illegal immigrants, including at Creedmoor Psychiatric Center and the Aqueduct Racetrack.
Adams has become increasingly critical of the Biden administration for not addressing the influx of illegal migrants, saying that New York City “is being destroyed by the migrant crisis.” Recently, flyers have begun to be distributed around the metropolis warning would-be immigrants that “Housing in NYC is very expensive” and imploring them to “Please consider…another city as you make your decision about where to settle in the U.S.”