New York City Mayor Eric Adams signed legislation for the Safe Hotels Act on Nov. 4. According to the statement released from the mayor's office, "Intro. 0991 will set new, stronger standards around safety, staffing, and cleaning in the city’s hotels, as well as licensing requirements to help enforce worker and guest protections."
“Our top priority from day one has been to keep people safe, and that includes protecting workers and tourists at our city’s hotels. That’s why we are expanding protections for the working-class New Yorkers who run our hotels and the guests who use them,” Mayor Adams said in the statement. “The Safe Hotels Act ensures that our hotels are safe, healthy, and clean, and that our tourism industry can thrive and create jobs across the city. This is a win for working people, the tourism and hotel industry, and all New Yorkers and guests.”
Kevin Carey, interim president and CEO of the American Hotel & Lodging Association, said in a letter sent to AHLA members that the "extraordinarily harmful legislation... creates a new hotel licensing scheme and limits the use of subcontracted labor in the city’s hotels." AHLA and the Protect NYC Tourism Coalition laid out the industry’s concerns with the bill in a veto letter to Mayor Adams. In part, it reads, "the bill is a direct attack on New York City small businesses. It arbitrarily takes aim at the hundreds of small businesses serving the hotel industry."