A new group of South Asian immigrant hotel owners is fighting a proposed bill they say would “destroy” the Big Apple’s hospitality industry and stomp out their American Dreams.
Indian-Americans behind the New York City Minority Hotel Association own some 120 non-union hotels mostly outside of Manhattan and they are pushing back against a controversial plan that would ban them from outsourcing jobs like housekeeping.
“Our coalition is the embodiment of the American Dream — hard working immigrant families who came to this nation, took a chance to build their small businesses and, over decades, created a community within the walls of their hotels,” said Mukesh Patel, a New York City hotelier and a founding member of the group who moved from India 30 years ago.
“As it is currently imagined, [the bill] has the potential to destroy all of that progress, put thousands of people out of work and shut down small businesses all over the city.”
He said the Safe Hotels Act is a bid to force hotels to unionize while driving up costs.
The bill, sponsored by Upper East Side Democratic Councilwoman Julie Menin, would require that hotels apply and reapply for a license every year. The city Department of Consumer and Worker Protection would regulate the hotels.
The measure, backed by the union representing hotel workers — the Hotel Trades Council — would bar hotels from outsourcing cleaning jobs and front desk work to private forms.
“I don’t think most council members are aware of the consequences this bill will have on the hotel industry,” Patel said.
“We have not fully recovered from the COVID pandemic. We are still struggling.”
He said the new licensing authority could trigger unfair revocation of licenses, and banks would no longer bankroll loans for hotels because of uncertainty.
Patel also said the city, state and federal governments — as well as the HTC — outsource certain services to private firms and hotels should have the same option.
“What’s the interest here? This is just not right,” he said.
The hoteliers said workers — whether direct hires or contact employees — already undergo sex-trafficking awareness training and other trainings.
“Our industry supports thousands of families all over New York City, many of whom are hardworking immigrant and minority families hoping to secure stability in this great city, yet the City Council is willing to play politics with their livelihoods,” Nikul Patel, a hotel owner in New York City and a founding member of NYCMHA, who is not related to Mukesh.
Menin defended her bill, noting support from the five district attorneys and the city Police Benevolent Association, who claim the stricter regulation will bolster safety and curb crime such as sex trafficking in and around hotels.
”With 39 murders at hotels and 14,000 complaints to the NYPD [since 2019], there’s a reason the five District Attorneys and the PBA support the Safe Hotels Act and why cities all across the country successfully license hotels,” said Menin, who is jockeying to become the next council speaker.
HTC agreed with Menin.
“An association founded by a hotel operator with properties that have generated hundreds of 911 criminal complaints is exactly why we need legislation to improve safety and health standards,” said HTC spokesman Austin Shafran. “Some business owners want to remain unaccountable but hotel workers, guests, and neighbors deserve better.”
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