New York Mayor Eric Adams, left, and city officials listen to a reporter's question during a City Hall press conference, Wednesday Aug. 9, 2023, in New York. Adams is calling on the federal government to declare a national emergency to ease the financial crisis the city is facing as it struggles to accommodate thousands of arriving migrants. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)

Refugee seekers, asylum seekers and immigrants may be heading to Chautauqua County soon regardless of county’s state of emergency order or a court injunction.

Chautauqua County is one of 32 counties that have issued emergency orders to prevent New York City from shipping asylum seekers and refugees to their communities. New York City challenged those emergency orders, with the court battle over their legality still being fought.

In an interview with The Post-Journal, one local landlord with more than 70 units described what New York City representatives of the mayor’s office offered him.

“They (New York City representatives) are willing to pay $120 a night, per-person, for a two-room occupancy,” said the head of an asset management company for a local property owner here in Jamestown who wishes to remain anonymous because of fear of retaliation or retribution. “They require a 12-month contract, which they say is legal because it’s between a property owner and them, meaning the county’s state of emergency will not be enforceable — that’s what they’re telling me.”

The county’s emergency order, as do most of the other counties’ orders, states no municipality can make contracts with persons, businesses or entities doing business within the county to transport migrants or asylum seekers to locations in the county or to house persons at locations in the county for any length of time without express written permission from County Executive PJ Wendel.

Similarly, the order states no hotel, motel or owner of a multiple dwelling in the county can contract or engage in business with any other municipality other than Chautauqua County to provide housing or accommodations for migrants or asylum seekers without a license granted by the county. The prohibition extends to any person or entity participating in another government entity’s program or contract service funded by another municipality.

“I stand by the State of Emergency and Emergency Order No. 1, known as Chautauqua County Sustainable Migration Protocol, issued on May 18, 2023 prohibiting illegal migrant resettlement to Chautauqua County. Any violations will be investigated by our Law Department and prosecuted to the fullest extent. It’s concerning to hear that individuals would consider entering a contract to accept payment to re-locate undocumented individuals, directly violating the emergency order,” Wendel said in a statement to The Post-Journal. “As county executive it is my duty to protect the financial and public safety interests of all Chautauqua County residents. Financially, we are not equipped to respond properly to an influx of individuals and families, which under federal law, are forbidden from legal employment. In terms of public safety, the recent incidents in nearby Erie County, New York, including sexual assaults and other crimes at the hands of illegal migrants, is a startling example. I believe this is a state and federal issue, and call on Governor Hochul and President Biden to take action.”

In an article by the New York Post on June 5, Adams floated the idea of New Yorkers housing migrants in “private residences.” The plan, according to the Post report, indicated the private residence plan would apply to the New York City area and few details were available.

New York City’s offer has, according to the source who spoke with The Post-Journal, been repeated several times locally.

“I spoke with some others who are in the business locally and we think he got our contact information from the landlord list here in Jamestown,” the asset manager said. “They’ve all’ve been approached by New York City mayoral representatives, and some are going to charge even more than the $120 a night, and … the big city (NYC) is willing to pay.”

Wendel recently said in a news release the county will eventually move from using hotels for emergency housing to instead use transitional housing after criticism from Falconer officials over issues with the Budget Inn. While it seems that James Jaroszynski, the mayor of Falconer, was moving ahead with getting the county to limit housing local homeless individuals and families in the village, the asset manager said Jaroszynski may have a different issue on his hands.

“I know several of these owners and some are going to do it. They may lose county money, but now they’re going to replace it with bigger and even more city money,” the asset manager said, noting the persistence to the inquiries.

“I can’t shake them,” he said. “They call, email, fax all the time, and offer more money, but I just don’t want to deal with this mess. However, I think by wintertime, we may start seeing some of them work their way down here, in our communities.”