Last week, New York City Councilwoman Julie Menin (D-District 5) introduced revisions to the proposed Int. No. 991 bill, known as the Hotel Safety Act, that the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) said would “impose drastic new measures against hotels in New York City.”
According to the AHLA, the revised text of the bill:
Creates a new hotel licensing structure that the city cannot afford to properly implement
Mandates that hotel owners must be the direct employer of all housekeeping, room attendance and maintenance staff
Prohibits all NYC hotels from subcontracting out key operational functions, directly harming small NYC businesses
Forces some of NYC’s largest and most iconic hotels to close or be sold due to conflicts with federal tax law
Eliminates the ability of hotel management companies to operate in NYC
Creates one-size-fits-all minimum staffing and cleaning mandates that ignore individual hotel needs and guest preferences
Will cause thousands of NYC hotel workers to lose their jobs.
Kevin Carey, interim president/CEO, AHLA, issued the following statement after the release of a revised bill:
“The city council’s discussions regarding the Hotel Safety Act continue to exclude those who will be most affected by the legislation—hotel owners, management companies, sub-contractors and tens of thousands of hotel workers. It is imperative that all stakeholders have a real seat at the table. If this is a matter of public safety and crime, as has been claimed by Councilwoman Julie Menin and the bill’s proponents, let’s review the facts and statistics to see what picture they paint. Advancing these claims with scant data and no public process will significantly damage the hotel industry, harm New York’s economy and negatively impact both the city’s reputation and its fiscal health.
“Simply stated, this proposal is bad for everyone: hotels, NYC’s tourism economy, guests and hotel employees. The revised bill still imposes expensive and burdensome requirements on hotel owners and effectively prohibits hotel management companies from operating in the city. As it stands, these revisions do not resolve the catastrophic consequences of this bill, which could lead to hotel closures and mass layoffs of workers, while ignoring many operational realities and guest preferences. The effects of this abruptly introduced legislation will be far-reaching and potentially devastating.
On behalf of the 30,000-plus members AHLA represents, we urge Councilwoman Menin and City Council leadership to withdraw this legislation.”
