American Hotel & Lodging Association Interim President & CEO Kevin Carey released the following statement after the New York City Council postponed a planned July 30 hearing on a bill that would "gravely harm the city’s nearly 700 hotels and their roughly 265,000 employees," according to the AHLA.
“Over the last 10 days, NYC’s hotel industry and the tourism economy have rallied to speak with one voice and resoundingly make clear that the Hotel Licensing bill introduced in the City Council has the potential to devastate New York City’s hotel industry," Carey wrote in his statement. "We are grateful for the support of our members, hotel industry coalition partners, and our allies in the restaurant and real estate community for helping to avert an economic disaster in New York City that no one wants.”
“We want to acknowledge Councilwoman Julie Menin for listening to the hotel industry’s concerns with this bill, delaying its consideration and agreeing to work with us on a way forward with the industry now at the table."
On July 18, Councilwoman Julie Menin proposed Int. No. 991, a bill that would impose "onerous and unnecessary staffing requirements on hotels in the city and mandate other rules that would needlessly disrupt hotel restaurants, threaten the operation of the successful franchise business model, and require some hotel owners to divest from their properties," according to the AHLA.
According to the New York City Council, the bill would “require hotels to obtain a license in order to operate their business in the city. The application term would be one year, and there would be an annual fee of $200. Large hotels would be required to maintain continuous front desk coverage and have at least one security guard. All hotels would be required to maintain the cleanliness of each guestroom. The licensee would be required to directly employ all core and critical employees, who would be subject to safety trainings. The department of consumer and worker protection could refuse to issue or renew a license, or suspend or revoke a license if the hotel violates the conditions of the license. Hotels that violate the license conditions would be subject to civil penalties.”
On July 28, Councilwoman Menin agreed to delay a planned July 30 hearing on the bill to “allow for more time for feedback prior to taking the next step in the legislative process.” Menin said she wanted to use the time to “work with my partners in government, labor and industry stakeholders” on the bill.