New York City’s Mayor Eric Adams is receiving backlash from the hospitality industry after signing the controversial Safe Hotels Act into law, Asian Hospitality reports.
The legislation requires hotels across the city’s five boroughs to obtain operating licenses. Also known as “Intro. 0991,” the law opens up room for stricter standards on safety, staffing, cleaning, and licensing in order to guarantee protections for workers and guests.
“Our top priority from day one has been to keep people safe, and that includes protecting workers and tourists at our city’s hotels,” Adams said. “That’s why we are expanding protections for the working-class New Yorkers who run our hotels and the guests who use them. The Safe Hotels Act ensures our hotels are safe, healthy, and clean, enabling our tourism industry to thrive and create jobs. This is a win for working people, the tourism and hotel industry, and all New Yorkers.”
Sponsored by City Council Member Julie Menin, the legislation was revised twice before passing and faced criticism from industry groups, including the Asian American Hotel Owners Association (AAHOA) and the American Hotel and Lodging Association. AAHOA chairman Miraj Patel says the law dims a light on the issues really concerning hoteliers.
“While we acknowledge the passage of the Safe Hotels Act and its attempt to accommodate smaller properties, this revision still falls short of addressing our broader concerns,” Patel said. “Hoteliers of all sizes deserve flexibility in managing operations. The act’s unintended consequences will disproportionately affect minority-owned businesses, stifling entrepreneurship and innovation in hospitality.”
With close to 800 hotels in the boroughs, all will now be required to be licensed by the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP), according to AM NY. As crime in the city has increased, hotels will have to employ hotel staff for front desk and housekeeping over contracted workers, as well as have panic buttons for workers when dangerous situations arise.
Under the DCWP, 45,000 businesses in NYC have licenses except hotels. Menin, a former DCWP commissioner, said it is one of the few industries without regulations.
“There are so many incidences of hotel workers, who largely tend to be female, with real issues of sexual assault,” Menin said. “It also protects guests because at the end of the day, we don’t want guests coming to our great city and having an experience in one of these bad actor hotels…the reason this is important is because it’s a public safety issue. There have been 39 murders in recent years at hotels.”
Thirty-four of 51 council members signed the act, but industry say the new laws will lead to the elimination of jobs and an increase of room rates resulting in a lack of tourists visiting the Big Apple.
“Hotels are already safe,” president and CEO of the Hotel Association of NYC, Vijay Dandapani, said. “NYC has the best, cleanest, and safest hotels in the nation, if not in the world. This is the center of innovation. We are the center of ideas. So to say our hotels aren’t safe is a travesty.”
The New York Police Department has filed more than 14,000 criminal complaints from hotels and motels over the past five years.