Nonprofit leader allegedly lied about homeless vets being kicked out of a hotel to make way for migrants



A nonprofit leader who said veterans had been displaced from a hotel to make way for migrants has been accused of lying about the matter, Mid-Hudson News reported.

"I am devastated and disheartened upon a conversation with Sharon Toney-Finch at approximately 3:15 p.m. Thursday, May 18, where I learned that the information regarding the YIT Foundation about homeless veterans being displaced is false," New York Assemblyman Brian Maher (R) said in a statement acquired by CNN.

"Their gross misrepresentation of the facts surrounding our homeless veterans is appalling."

Maher has since axed his affiliation with YIT Foundation, for which he had acted as a volunteer spokesperson.

Yerik Israel Toney Foundation founder and chairman Sharon Toney-Finch's story reportedly fell apart when Mid-Hudson News began delving into the stories of the veterans she said had been displaced from Crossroads Hotel in the Town of Newburgh, New York.

Mid-Hudson News reports its investigation revealed an elaborate scheme, involving Toney-Finch recruiting men from a local homeless shelter to pose as displaced veterans.

The recruits were promised $200, food, and alcohol in exchange for taking a trip to meet with an elected official to discuss homelessness, the outlet explained. After a meal, the men were reportedly taken to Orange County Veteran Center in New Windsor, where Orange County Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Heather Bell-Mayer asked them some questions.

Toney-Finch's YIT Foundation and many of its corporate sponsors are members of the Orange County Chamber, the outlet also reported.

Bell-Meyer, who sits on YIT Foundation's advisory board, told the outlet Monday that Assemblyman Maher had asked her to visit the OCVC to get information on how he, Maher, could help veterans.

Friday, Toney-Finch, the YIT Foundation leader, confessed that she had concocted the scheme to bribe homeless people to pose as veterans. Toney-Finch says she did so when Bell-Meyer demanded to meet the men in person whom Toney-Finch earlier claimed had been displaced from the hotel.

To add insult to injury, though the homeless people Toney-Finch allegedly recruited to lie about being displaced veterans did receive a meal at the Daily Planet Diner in LaGrange, they were never paid the $200 they say they were promised.

For her part, Toney-Finch denied offering a monetary bribe to the men.

"I bought them lunch and that was it," she told Mid-Hudson News.

"I never promised to pay anybody," she told CNN.

TheBlaze's story referencing Toney-Finch's original statements has been updated to reflect Mid-Hudson News' new reporting.

Watch a video below posted to the YIT Foundation's Twitter feed about an event held in 2021.

\u201cIt was an amazing event we had!!!\u201d
— YITFoundation (@YITFoundation) 1636906827

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Lawsuits fly: Hotel allegedly boots homeless vets, wedding parties to make room for migrants



Multiple couples' wedding plans were disrupted and homeless veterans were displaced when a hotel canceled blocks of previously-booked rooms to make way for migrants, WNBC and Mid Hudson News reported Friday.

"It was absolutely devastating, groom-to-be Gary Moretti, 35, told the Daily Mail.

"We felt discarded, disappointed and angry that they just tossed us aside to make an extra dollar for the hotel. It’s just not right,” bride-to-be Deanna Mifsud, 35, told the New York Post.

Monday, two New York counties declared states of emergency in advance of the ending of Title 42, as TheBlaze reported. The Crossroads Hotel in Newburgh is located in Orange County, near the Moretti and Mifsud's wedding venue in in the Hudson Valley.

"We signed a contract. We had a legal contract to have those rooms," Moretti told the Post.

Wedding parties were not the only ones to be pushed aside to make way for migrants. The same hotel kicked out homeless veterans who were temporarily housed there, according to Mid Hudson News.

"Whether you agree or disagree with migrants being housed in the Hudson Valley, I believe all of us can agree that this issue should not negatively impact our homeless veterans who have sacrificed so much for our country," Sharon Toney-Finch of the YIT Foundation told the outlet. YIT is a nonprofit that works to "provide permanent housing to homeless military veterans."

The Crossroads Hotel was included in a trio of lawsuits filed by Orange County and the town of Newburgh Friday. Other defendants include New York City and the Ramada by Wyndham, WNBC reported. The goal of the suits is to block New York City's Mayor Eric Adams from bussing groups of migrants to the county and housing them there in hotels.

"It’s a complete mess and the government has not been forthright and honest with us," Orange County Executive Steve Nehaus said.

Another couple, Sean and Nicole of Queens, called the situation "hectic" and "unbelievable" in an interview with the outlet. The couple's last names were not provided.

The couple say they are set to be married in about a week, and they have family flying from Ireland, England, Canada, Ecuador, and Japan for the nuptials.

Sean and Nicole said they also booked rooms at The Crossroads, and are now out of luck, as the hotel canceled their reservations for a 37-room block. They say the hotel manager eventually told them all blocks of rooms had been canceled for the next few months.

Adding insult to injury, the couple say they were not proactively contacted about the time-sensitive matter by the hotel manager. Instead, they learned of the cancellation when they called to inquire and are now scrambling to make alternative plans.

"All affected guests will be contacted for assistance with rebooking their upcoming reservations," a spokesman for Choice Hotels, the brand under which the Crossroads Hotel operates, told the New York Post.

The Crossroads Hotel did answer WNBC's multiple phone calls nor did the hotel respond to a message from the New York Post.

Watch WNBC's coverage below of The Crossroads Hotel allegedly cancelling blocks of room reservations for multiple wedding parties to make way for migrants being bussed in from New York City.



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