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Smaller, mostly non-union hotels with 100 or fewer rooms will be exempt from a key provision of a proposed law that imposes stricter licensing requirements on the hotel industry.
The legislation, expected to be passed by the City Council next week, will excuse “mom and pop” hotels from a ban on contracting out for “core employees” — such as front desk and housekeeping and maintenance jobs to an outside firm, instead of directly hiring the workers.
The trade group representing New York City hotels pushed for the exemption and the influential Hotel Trades Council union and the bill sponsor, Councilwoman Julie Menin, agreed to the last-minute concession — all but assuring passage of the measure next week.
“We were able to negotiate a version of the final bill that now addresses the concerns of both our large and small hotels — and will allow the hotel industry and its workers to thrive in New York
City for years to come,” said Vijay Dandani, president and CEO of the Hotel Association of New York City.
Mennin, a Manhattan Democrat who chairs the consumer affairs panel, said she is “thrilled” that the hotel licensing bill will be voted on and passed with a super majority on Oct. 23.
“We reached a deal with the NY Hotel Association and the union to address concerns related to a potential impact on small mom-and-pop hotels.
“All the core elements of the bill including public safety, health and worker protection provisions still apply to all hotels and the only new change is that hotels with 100 or fewer rooms now will have flexibility around subcontracting,” she said.
The compromise bill meets the goal of improving basic health, safety and quality standards at hotels, said Rich Maroko, president of the Hotel Trades Council.
The bill was substantially altered over the past few months after the hotel industry complained the initial heavy-handed draft of rules would hit the inns like a “nuclear bomb” and drive up costs.
