A housekeeper from a New York City*hotel housing migrants came forward Wednesday with shocking allegations of waste, drug use, domestic abuse and even public indecency.
Felipe Rodriguez of The Row, a 28-story, 1,300-room hotel that is one of fourteen being used exclusively for migrants, shared video footage and photographs with Eyewitness News showing staff removing a shocking amount of food waste from the hotel every day. Some bags weighed 60 pounds, he told the outlet. (RELATED: New York City To Close Migrant Encampment In Favor Of Hotels Amid Surge In Arrivals)
“We have complained vigorously about the waste of food. We’ve got homeless in New York City,” he said. Rodriguez further added the city is providing migrants three meals a day.
Another housekeeper supported the allegations, telling the outlet she sees perfectly good food thrown out everyday.
“Boxes of apples and bananas,” she said. “They throw out the sandwiches as well.”
A migrant who lived in the hotel told the outlet she doesn’t eat the food provided all the time because she’d rather cook, revealing another problem The Row is facing. Every day staff are reportedly seizing hot plates, rice cookers, pots and pans from rooms, which are fire hazards, the outlet stated.
A city spokesman told Eyewitness News, “All clients are offered a food selection that reflects the diets of residents and is prepared same-day to ensure freshness. Last month, residents were even asked to participate in guest surveys to help us refine and expand menu options. Of course we cannot and would not ever force clients to finish food they had taken, but we do donate leftover food when possible.”
Wasted food and seizing fire hazards are the least of The Row’s problems, according to Rodriguez.
“The chaos that we see at The Row today is compiled by migrants being drunk, drinking all day, smoking marijuana, [and] consuming drugs,” Rodriguez stated on Fox News’ The Ingraham Angle. Rodriguez further claimed that domestic violence and abuse are frequent issues at the hotel. So are “young people” having sex in the stairwells.
