On Sept. 12, more than 1,000 hotel and hospitality professionals are expected to take part in a rally and press conference on the steps of New York City Hall in opposition to Intro 991—the “Safe Hotels Act”—prior to the City Council’s stated meeting on Thursday.
Organized by the Protect NYC Tourism Coalition, which includes members of the Coalition for Hotel Subcontractors, the Hotel Association of New York City, the Asian American Hotel Owners Association, the NYC Minority Hotel Association, the American Hotel & Lodging Association, and the National Association of Black Hotel Owners, Operators and Developers, and numerous other groups, the rally will begin prior to the press conference and continue after it concludes. At the same time, hundreds of hotel employees, subcontractors and others will rally in City Hall Park, urging the City Council to kill the bill and preserve their jobs.
According to the PNYCTC, Intro 991 poses a devastating impact to the city’s economy. The "dangerous" bill mandates arbitrary workplace rules that will add significant costs to hotels, jeopardizing their ability to operate, and putting the hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers whose jobs are supported by hotels at risk, all while straining the tourism industry and threatening the estimated $5 billion in tax revenue it brings to the city each year. Scores of hotels are expected to close if this legislation becomes law.
AAHOA will join other industry associations and companies in opposing the proposed Safe Hotels Act at the rally, according to a statement released Sept. 10, which noted that "AAHOA recognizes this as a positive step toward ensuring the voices of hotel owners and industry stakeholders are heard in the legislative process."
"New York City's hospitality industry is a cornerstone of its economy, supporting tens of thousands of jobs and generating billions in revenue," said AAHOA President and CEO Laura Lee Blake. "The Safe Hotels Act, if passed in its current form, would do more harm than good, threatening the livelihood of countless hotel owners and workers. We encourage the Council to listen to the feedback presented at the rally and work toward solutions that protect everyone: guests, workers, and the industry that serves them."