A bill requiring hotels to purchase licenses in order to operate in the Big Apple sailed through the City Council on Wednesday after lawmakers, hospitality industry leaders and a key labor union struck a compromise deal that carved a contentious provision out of the measure.
The bill, which would impose a $350 biannual licensing fee on hotels and subject them to various labor, health and safety regulations, set off a fire storm of controversy when Manhattan Councilwoman Julie Menin introduced it in July.
The first version of the bill, backed by the city’s politically powerful Hotel Trades Council union, would’ve required all New York City hotels, regardless of size, to directly employ most “core” staff, including front desk clerks and room attendants, as opposed to outsourcing such work via subcontracts.
The Hotel Association of New York, an industry trade group, went berserk over that proposal, arguing it would financially ruin small hotel owners and vowing earlier this year to unleash a $20 million PR blitz against the legislation.
After weeks of negotiations, Menin, the union and the hotel association reached an agreement earlier this month that modifies the bill to exempt small hotels, defined as those with less than 100 rooms, from the direct hire requirement. With that compromise locked in, the legislation passed the full Council on Wednesday afternoon in a 45-4 vote.
“It wasn’t easy getting here, we had some powerful forces aligned against us, forces that put profits over people, some bad actors who care more about their bottom lines than they do about the human beings who work and stay in these hotels,” HTC President Richard Maroko said at a rally in City Hall Park before the vote which was also attended by Menin and other Council members. “But in the end it was inevitable that we would get to this point.”
The bill now heads to the desk of Mayor Adams, who has 30 days to approve or veto it. His office said after the vote that Adams, who has been a prominent HTC ally for years, supports the legislation.
In an interview, Menin said the exemption from the direct hire mandate is about cutting small hotel owners some financial slack. Most direct hotel hires are unionized via the HTC, and keeping those workers on payroll and providing them with benefits is generally more expensive for owners than outsourcing to subcontractors.
“We wanted to give the mom-and-pops some flexibility, but they’re still subject to all of the other licensing requirements, which addresses the public safety issue,” Menin told the Daily News.
The other components of the bill require that all hotels in the city schedule staff for around-the-clock coverage of their front desks. Large hotels would also have to schedule a security guard to provide continuous coverage when any room is occupied.
Additionally, hotel operators would be required under the bill to provide employees with human trafficking recognition training and panic button devices they can use to quickly alert law enforcement in the event of an emergency.
The Department of Consumer and Worker Protection would be tasked with enforcing the new rules and issuing the licenses required to operate hotels.
Violations of the licensing rules could result in civil fines. The most serious penalty a hotel could face for violations is getting their license pulled, which would effectively stop them from being able to stay open.
Proponents of the bill say the public safety provisions are key as hotels in the city have seen a spate of crime in recent years.
Since 2009, at least 39 murders have occurred at hotels in the city, according to NYPD data. The data also shows the Police Department logged more than 14,000 complaints regarding criminal activities at city hotels between 2019 and 2023.