WASHINGTON—After New York City Councilwoman Julie Menin shared a new version of her hotel licensing bill with industry stakeholders, hotel industry leaders released the following statements:
“While we appreciate the Councilwoman’s willingness to listen to industry feedback and work toward more sensible outcomes for New York City’s hotels, the new version of the legislation still contains language that will cause significant economic harm—primarily to small, family-owned hotels and the largely immigrant and minority-owned businesses that support them. There is no question that this bill, if passed, will cause many of New York City’s small businesses to close and thousands of hard-working New Yorkers to lose their jobs. We cannot accept any legislation that causes such disparate impacts across the industry,” said AHLA Interim President and CEO Kevin Carey.
“The updated version of Int. 991, if anything, specifically targets immigrant and minority-owned businesses that support the thousands of hotels New York City’s tourism economy needs to survive. The new bill does nothing to protect our small businesses and their families and will have disastrous impacts on our livelihoods. We cannot support this bill in its current form and look forward to voicing our opposition directly to Councilwoman Menin,” said Mukesh Patel, a New York City hotelier and a founding member of NYC Minority Hotel Association.
“The Asian American Hotel Owners Association (AAHOA) has reviewed and opposes the union’s revised version of Int. 991 crafted behind closed doors. As advocates for minority hotel owners and operators, we support efforts to enhance guest and worker safety, including human trafficking training. However, this bill continues to ignore legitimate concerns of our minority-owned small business members, including limitations on subcontracted workers and many other operational burdens. We urge the City Council to continue working with the industry to find a balanced solution that protects both workers and businesses,” said Miraj Patel, chairman of AAHOA.
AHLA will continue to advocate for a simple licensing bill, which achieves the safety measures that the proponents of the bill say are their stated goal.
