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Since early 2023, Khan Hospitality LLC—a business entity of Bisma, Jugna, and Mohammad Khan—has operated a Motel 6 near the Frederick Douglass Greater Rochester International Airport.
Under its previous owner, the motel was Monroe County’s primary placement for emergency housing through its Department of Human Services. But that contract ended only a few months following the ownership change, after the county cited unsanitary conditions. It displaced 40 families.
Now, two years later, though the contract has not been renewed, the county is still placing people there and some tenants are speaking out about what they say are ongoing unsanitary conditions. Housing advocates, who organized efforts to help families in 2023, are calling for accountability. The Khans have refused to let lawmakers tour the property, which has raised further concerns.
Behind Motel 6
Located at 1273 Chili Ave., Motel 6 was purchased in February 2023 by the Khan family, which inherited the contract with the county DHS. In June 2023, the presence of bedbugs and cockroaches at the motel prompted the county Health Department to issue an order to abate. Roughly a month later, Bisma Khan notified county officials that the motel had decided to decline further placements, and the contract was terminated.
The motel then reversed course after notices were sent to residents who were placed through the county’s emergency housing unit. Bisma Khan consulted with housing advocates and county legislators to help the displaced tenants, attending a rally just days later to plead their case with the DHS and facilitate their return to Motel 6.
Monroe County spokesperson Steve Barz says the county’s contract with Motel 6 ended when the Khans requested the relocation of DHS-placed residents to accommodate migrant families relocated to Rochester.
However, the county resumed overflow placement at Motel 6 after the hotel received a public health hotel certification in April 2024. Since then, roughly 100 people have been placed there. Though Monroe County and Motel 6 do not have a current contract, the county pays the nightly rate per room, and the motel sends a bill for authorized placements at the end of each month.
Housing advocates who supported the Khans in summer 2023 say they felt betrayed upon hearing of continued issues among tenants at the motel.
“I’m very concerned and uncomfortable with the treatment there, because we did stick our necks out for them,” says Barbara Rivera, a community advocate who rallied alongside Bisma Khan in 2023. “The fact that two years later, we’re hearing all of these things going on … what’s the point of placing (residents) there if we’re adding more trauma to their lives?”
Living conditions
In addition to unsanitary living conditions, tenants and employees are upset about an intimidating environment they say the motel’s owners have created.
Maggie Walsh, a housekeeper and tenant at Motel 6, says she recently was repeatedly locked out of her room. Lockout evictions are unlawful in New York, but Walsh claims she had to pay management to reenter her room. She has filed a complaint with the state attorney general’s office, citing the alleged lockout. Her complaint also cites “harassment and refusing to accept debit card only wants cash.”
The Khans declined to comment, citing “fraudulent” allegations from tenants.
Embedded in the hallways and rooms of Motel 6 are longstanding sanitary concerns that paint a picture of the experiences tenants say they have faced even after efforts by the county to improve living conditions at the motel. Ceiling leaks and water damage are visible in the hallways. (Beacon writers walked through the motel with a tenant’s permission.) Walsh claims she has had to move between five different rooms due to water leaks.
“There’s still plumbing issues,” she says. “I had my sink plugged up. I can’t even lock my door.”
County Legislature vice president Mercedes Vazquez Simmons recently attempted to visit the property. Simmons says the Khans would not give her access to Motel 6 for a walk-through. She plans to file a complaint in response and is in contact with the county Health Department and the Department of Social Services to explore possible options.
Left without answers, housing advocates held a July 29 rally in support of tenants outside Motel 6. Walsh and others spoke about their ongoing living conditions, calling for greater oversight of the motel.
“I get sick every day,” says Walsh. “I get migraines. It’s horrible, the conditions we have to go through. And this is my only place I can live, because I don’t have anywhere else to go.”
Narm Nathan is a Rochester Beacon contributing writer and a member of the Oasis Project’s inaugural cohort. David Wazana is a member of the Oasis Project’s second cohort.
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