Op-Ed | Don’t let red tape strangle the New York hotel industry
New York’s hotel industry is a critical driver of the regional economy, providing jobs to tens of thousands of people, powering the city’s tourism industry, and contributing billions in tax revenues to city and state coffers.
But our industry’s recovery from COVID is still fragile: 62.2 million people visited New York City last year, about 7% fewer than the 66.6 million who visited in 2019. While forecasts predict that number will rise, a full recovery is far from assured.
Unfortunately, the City Council is pushing new legislation, Int. 991, also known as the hotel licensing bill, that would impose a broad set of onerous requirements on the industry at a time when we can least afford costly new regulations. Among other provisions, the bill requires all hotels in the city to apply for a license annually from the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection.