As New York increasingly relies on hotels to house families experiencing homelessness, a Spectrum News 1 review found in some counties those families may live next door to registered level two and level three sex offenders.
Broome County, in the Southern Tier, was found to have three hotels in such a situation.
Through a Freedom of Information Law request, Spectrum News 1 used payment records from the state Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance to confirm which hotels Broome County uses as temporary housing for families. In comparing the hotel address with publicly available addresses of registered sex offenders, as of March 31, four registered sex offenders are living at the Knights Inn in Endicott.
People staying at the Knights Inn receive food during a distribution event by a local church group. (Emily Kenny/Spectrum News 1)
New York state Sen. Rob Rolison, a Hudson Valley-based Republican and retired police officer, said in an interview level two and three offenders are more than likely predatory and could be a cause for concern if they are living near families.
“They should not be under any circumstances,” Rolison said.
He serves on the Children and Family Committee and the Crime and Crime Victims Committee. Ultimately, Rolison believes it comes down to the availability of housing.
“[It is] the inability to find permanent housing, which I’ll also say is very important to the management of individuals who have challenges whether it is a sex offender, someone battle an addiction issue. Stability is so important,” Rolison said.
Only level two and three sex offenders are required by state law to be maintained in a public online directory that lists their addresses.
A review found at least seven counties with a combined dozen hotels with family placements that matched addresses for registered sex offenders.
In response to this story, Broome County officials confirmed its Department of Social Services uses the hotel for housing families.
“Yes, the Knights Inn at 2603 E. Main Street in Endicott is also used by DSS for temporary housing for families,” said Graciela Jensen in an email.
In 2025, there were 264 calls for police intervention at the Knights Inn, and in the first six weeks of the year, there were 37 calls, according to police records from the Broome County Sheriff’s Office.
Jasmine assists in unloading food from the truck which is distributed to families at the Knights Inn. (Emily Kenny/Spectrum News 1)
The manager of the hotel declined an interview with Spectrum News 1.
Jasmine Stratford and her three kids lived at the Knights Inn for about a month in 2023. She said no one discussed the possibility that sex offenders could be living in the hotels.
“That’s a little bit alarming because I have three children, but they didn’t disclose that to me, and I don’t even think it was a factor,” Stratford said.
Jensen also confirmed the county uses the Motel 6 in Binghamton, the Red Roof Inn in Johnson City, the Sunrise Motel in Johnson City and the Deep Well Motel in Owego for families. The Red Roof Inn currently has two registered sex offenders, and the Sunrise Motel and Deep Well Motel both have one registered sex offender living there.
“The Department of Social Services (DSS) complies with New York State regulations regarding the placement and housing of registered sex offenders. In alignment with these requirements, DSS makes every reasonable effort to ensure that such individuals are not placed in hotels or other temporary housing facilities that are also used to accomodate families, particularly those with children. Placement decisions are made with consideration of public safety, regulatory compliance and the availability of appropriate housing alternatives,” Commissioner of the Broome County DSS Nancy Williams said in a statement.
During a roundtable discussion in Western New York last month, New York state Sen. George Borrello, R-Sunset Bay, said that housing people in hotels and motels has caused unnecessary stress on local law enforcement.
“We’ve had multiple issues with law enforcement. We’ve had child endangerment issues in our school system. The superintendent was telling a story about someone that tried to board a school bus and make threats to the driver. We’ve had countless issues of theft. It’s a growing problem. It’s become a tremendous burden,” Borrello said during the roundtable.
Town of Ellicott Police Chief Daniel Ingrao said that incidents related to individuals in these hotels account for about 10% of the department’s call volume.
“There’s been several instances where individuals were suspected of using narcotics around children, around juveniles. There’s been issues with theft, larceny, sexual misconduct,” Ingrao said.
Stratford said the Knights Inn in Broome County also had a number of issues with drug use and paraphernalia.
“There are needles everywhere, caps and exposed needles. There are children that run around there without their shoes on,” Stratford said. “The drug addicts were pretty much out in the open, it wasn’t concealed or confined away from families that are there without a choice.”
In Chautauqua County, one of the hotels that Ingrao said has had issues is the Quality Inn in Falconer, which shares a property line with an elementary school. Another around the corner, the Budget Inn, has two registered offenders living there.
“We all know that the rate of recidivism for sex offenders is very high, so to place someone like that particularly in a hotel without the knowledge of that person’s background for the property owner, the hotel owner, the local law enforcement officials, I think is a problem,” Borrello said. “We need to wrap arms around the fact that this is an issue of public safety.”
Toys and food sit in the window sill of a hotel room at the Motel 6 in Binghamton which is used for housing families and has registered offenders living there. (Emily Kenny/Spectrum News 1)
Justin Gould, a spokesperson for Chautauqua County, said they try to keep individuals and families in separate hotels, but that can’t always happen.
“Placement is largely based on availability at the time and other considerations related to the individual’s situation. When demand is high, the department works with whichever in-county locations have space available with the goal of utilizing local options whenever possible,” Gould said in an email.
Rolison said part of the issue comes down to the availability of affordable and permanent housing.
“We’re in a situation where there aren’t enough places for people to live,” he said. “When [sex offenders] come out of a facility — correctional facility — there are conditions that are put on their release, and they can’t be certain places. They can’t live certain places.”
The New York Civil Liberties Union has filed a lawsuit that challenges the current living restrictions, known as Sexual Assault Reform Act or SARA restrictions, which says level three offenders cannot knowingly enter within 1,000 feet of school grounds, day care facilities and other child care facilities.
“There are schools everywhere in dense urban environments, particularly in New York City, meaning people cannot find housing,” said Daniel Lambright, a senior lawyer for the NYCLU.
Jasmine, her daughter and one of their dogs sit on the couch in their apartment. (Emily Kenny/Spectrum News 1)
Level two and three offenders are required to have a place to live when they are released from prison, so if they don’t, Lambright said they will occasionally be held over their sentence dates, or Department of Corrections and Community Supervision will place them in more rural areas where the hotels abide by SARA restrictions.
“DOCCS will try to find hotel situations where people can live, and again it’s caused by the residency restriction wiping out housing that people go to otherwise live for really no good reason because there’s not empirical evidence to support the residency restriction actions being effective at reducing sexual violence or sexual offending. It really just makes it harder for people to find housing and for people to rebuild their lives,” Lambright said.
Stratford, the Broome County mom, said she would like to see changes for families living in these hotels.
“Do something, do better. DSS is the root of the problem, and everybody else has taken the heat for it, but they’re the problem,” Stratford said. “They’re placing people in these hotels. They are being careless and negligent about it.”