A New York man threatened to blow up a hotel he says the city turned into a shelter without asking anyone first

A New York man is drawing attention online after posting a video venting his frustration over plans to convert a former hotel into a men’s homeless shelter. As reported by Daily Dot, the video shows the man saying, “I will tell you one thing. I will blow up this hotel,” while claiming the situation will end up on the news. He says the building operated as a hotel, then a family shelter, before the city moved to convert it into a men’s shelter.

The man says he intends to protest the project every day until local officials address his concerns. “We don’t want a men’s shelter,” he says in the clip, adding that “the voice of the people has spoken.” The post that brought the video attention claims the decision was made without input from the surrounding community, an area the caption notes includes several schools.

The comment section quickly became a flashpoint for broader political anger, with many commenters directing criticism at Mayor Mamdani despite his only having been in office a few months. One commenter argued the administration would “promise all kinds of money but never accomplish” anything. Other replies veered away from the shelter plan itself and toward criticism of homeless individuals in general. Daily Dot said it was unable to independently verify the claims made in the video, including the building’s history or the shelter’s timeline.

The anger taps into a housing crisis that stretches well beyond one neighborhood

The frustration captured in the video reflects a homelessness crisis that has been worsening nationwide. According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, 771,480 people were experiencing homelessness during the 2024 Point in Time Count, an 18% increase from the 653,104 counted in 2023.

Homeless response workers served more than 1.1 million people that year, a 12% increase from 2023. Debates over local facilities have played out elsewhere too, amid other viral disputes such as a case where a New York woman suing McDonald’s drew similar attention online.

The National Alliance to End Homelessness points to a shortage of affordable housing as the main driver, noting there are only about 35 affordable rental homes available for every 100 extremely low-income renter households. The group also highlights past success stories, including a 55% drop in veteran homelessness between 2009 and 2022 through coordinated federal housing investment.

Online arguments over public services and city planning have become a recurring theme, not unlike a separate video in which a flight attendant refuses to intervene in a dispute between passengers. The National Alliance to End Homelessness notes that in 2024, no community in the country had enough permanent housing to meet the needs of everyone experiencing homelessness.