Albany County Republican & Conservative Conference Agenda 

In Letter to State Attorney General, Local Lawmakers Push for Accountability and Protection of Migrant-Accompanied Children at Hotels in Albany County

COLONIE, NY – Albany County Legislators Patty Lockart and Frank Mauriello today called on the State Attorney General to investigate local hotels housing more than 500 migrants – including at least 50 children at a hotel in Colonie. The New York City-run program has been a subject of scrutiny since it came to Albany County on Memorial Day weekend earlier this year, with a lack of coordination, communication or planning between municipalities, and reportedly poor living conditions at hotels in the County.

“I served for 34 years with the Colonie Police Department as a Victim Specialist. I’ve fought to protect our most vulnerable from abuse and mistreatment my entire adult life. What has happened at the hotels in our County – including one just a few miles from my home in Colonie – is deeply disturbing. Minority Leader Frank Mauriello and I are calling for a state investigation into this matter to provide accountability, and to verify the safety and wellbeing of the children at this hotel, as well as any other individuals who may have experienced mistreatment at the hands of New York City’s contractors for this program,” said County Legislator Patty Lockart (R-C, Colonie).

Last week, it was reported by the New York Times that DocGo, a medical services company contracted by New York City to provide transportation, security and other services for migrants in Albany County, was not coordinating with the local authorities on all matters related to the migrants. In addition, there were allegations of mistreatment and false promises made to the migrants.

Since there are now at least 50 children at the Colonie hotel, any possible failure to educate those who are school-age would represent a breach of New York State law. So far, there has been no indication of any coordination with local school districts on how to manage this, despite the concerns of local officials.

“We were appalled by a recent story in the New York Times which suggested poor treatment of migrants by the New York City-contracted vendor responsible for their care, DocGo. The article describes a number of issues, ranging from verbal and physical threats to bad documentation and false promises…We are deeply disturbed about these reported conditions, and we ask you to investigate those conditions as expeditiously as possible,” wrote Legislators Lockart and Mauriello.

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The letter is attached here: