"The guests filling hotels and keeping restaurants, convenience stores and gas stations busy are not tourists; they are the hundreds of searchers, reporters and photographers who have flocked to the area during the three-week search for escaped killers Richard Matt and David Sweat.
With so many law enforcement and media people in the area, hotels and motels are completely full, said Susan Matton, vice president of economic development for the North Country Chamber of Commerce in Plattsburgh. Restaurants are busy, and local convenience stores and gas stations are hopping."
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"Local businesses and restaurants have stepped up to help feed and house the searchers, who traveled from other parts of the state.
Immediately after the escape, a gym owner in Dannemora got clearance to set up cots and temporarily house searchers, said Kristy Kennedy, vice president for marketing of the North Country Chamber.
As days went by, SUNY Plattsburgh made dormitory space available and a privately owned student housing complex provided rooms for some law enforcement officers, she said.
As horrible as the story is, you have seen the community come out as well, which is really interesting, Kennedy said. They are making sure that if somebody needs a place to sleep, we are accommodating that, or a place to charge a cellphone so they can reach out to their family members. Youve heard a lot of those stories too.
These are alternative options that are being used, not just our hotels and motels, she said.
Plattsburgh has eight hotel chains, most offering 90 to 100 rooms."
http://www.buffalonews.com/city-reg...-accommodate-searchers-and-the-media-20150627