The New York City Council should slow down and work together with industry leaders to address concerns over hotel operations given the magnitude of the proposed changes.

The proposed bill will force many hotels to close, and many more to lay off workers.

Can New York afford higher per-night room rates and less hotel room availability?

In its current form, the bill mandates workplace rules that should be negotiated at the collective bargaining table instead. Unless something changes, thousands of jobs will be lost due to:

• Minimum staffing requirements – Hotels already face staffing challenges, and arbitrary thresholds will only make it worse.
   
• Restrictions on hotels using subcontractors – Certain functions, including housekeeping, front desk, front service, and engineering cannot be performed by subcontractors. This puts even more pressure on hoteliers during a nationwide staffing shortage, and disproportionately harms small businesses.
   
• Increased operating costs – The price for complying with rules unilaterally enacted without industry input is thousands of jobs lost – New York City Hotels directly employ 42,000 people and support nearly 260,000 jobs.
   
• Legal conflict and forced divestment for REITs – The bill would force some hotels to either violate federal tax law or immediately close their hotels, laying off workers and selling off properties. Federal tax law prevents REITs from being employers at the hotels they own, jeopardizing their status if they comply with this bill. The perceived responsiveness of subjective licensing standards puts city bureaucrats in charge with excessive control over hotel operations and management, undermining business autonomy.
   

The economic impact of this hastily introduced bill will be felt on every block in every neighborhood, hurting restaurants and retail shops the most – and putting $5 billion in tourism-related tax revenue at risk. And for what?

HERE ARE THE FACTS:

Cleanliness and Sanitation

• The bill imposes policies related to cleanliness and sanitation. The hotel industry is already a longstanding and continuing leader in this area.
   
• The extensive NYC State Sanitary Code already applies to our industry and covers rules related to sanitation.
   
• Creating another layer of city regulations that only apply to hotels and no other industries is duplicative and creates an inconsistent standard for other tourist-heavy areas. 

Trafficking Prevention

• The bill imposes policies aimed at preventing prostitution and human trafficking. The hotel industry is already a longstanding and ongoing leader on this issue, working with nationally recognized experts and providing comprehensive training and awareness programs. 
   
• In 2022, New York State mandated that all hotel employees in the state undergo human trafficking awareness and prevention training within 60 days of being hired.
   
• More than 1.7 million industry training sessions have been conducted under the ‘No Room for Trafficking’ Initiative since 2020.
   
• Learn more about the hotel industry’s commitment to human trafficking prevention

Protecting Guests and Workers

• The bill’s purported goal is to protect guests, workers and local communities by ensuring that hotels live up to reasonable standards. This is already occurring on a large scale – the hotel industry prioritizes the safety and well-being of workers and guests.
   
• The “Safe Stay” initiative launched during the pandemic unified the industry on enhanced cleaning measures and safety guidelines.
   
• Most NYC hotels have already voluntarily implemented measures, specifically panic buttons to ensure worker and guest safety.