BCW and Westchester Hotel Association Travel to Albany for First Official Hotel Lobby Day

The Business Council of Westchester and the Westchester Hotel Association traveled to Albany for its first official Hotel Lobby Day on Tuesday, meeting with top statewide elected officials to voice their opposition to proposed legislation that would negatively impact the county’s hotel industry.

The entire leadership team of the Westchester Hotel Association attended, led by President Sean Meade, General Manager of the Cambria Hotels and Suites White Plains Downtown. Natasha Caputo, Westchester County’s Director of Tourism and Film, was also part of the very successful trip. It is expected that this will become an annual event for the Association.

The group began the day meeting with Sen. Terrence Murphy, of Westchester County, Chair of the Senate Committee on Investigations & Government Operations, where all hotel occupancy bills must pass.

The day also included a meeting with the Westchester Assembly Delegation, hosted by Assembly Member J. Gary Pretlow; as well as a meeting with Senate Democratic Conference Leader Sen. Andrea Stewart-Cousins and members of the Westchester Senate Delegation.

Tanisha Edwards, Assistant Counsel to the Governor for Taxation and Financial Services, also hosted a meeting with the group.

Specifically, the BCW and Westchester Hotel Association submitted Memos of Opposition in regards to the following:

• A bill that would require employers of retail, food service or cleaning employees to give their employees 7 days notice of their work schedule and a month’s notice of the minimum hours of work they will be assigned.
• A bill that would require every hotel, motel or inn to offer condoms for sale in their registration offices to registered guests.
• A bill that would extend the hotel occupancy tax in the City of White Plains for three years, expiring on December 31, 2021.
• A bill that would extend the hotel occupancy tax in the City of Yonkers for three years, expiring on September 1, 2021.
• A bill that would extend the hotel occupancy tax in the City of New Rochelle for three years, expiring on September 1, 2021.
• A bill that would require that every keeper of a lodging facility post in plain view and in a conspicuous place and manner in the public rest rooms, and if practicable, in the individual guest rooms and near the public entrance or other conspicuous place in plain sight of the guests and employees, a notice that would include the national human trafficking hotline telephone number. The bill also requires that the Internet reservation website for lodging facilities display, if practicable, the same notice.

Photo: Back row left to right: Mark Dorr, President, New York State Hospitality and Tourism Association; Sean Meade, General Manager, Cambria Hotels and Suites White Plains Downtown and President of the Westchester Hotel Association; Sen. Terrence Murphy; Linda Ferone, Director of Business Development, Double Tree by Hilton Tarrytown; Andra Horsch, Vice President of State Government Affairs, The Business Council of Westchester; Natasha Caputo, Director, Westchester County Tourism and Film; John Ravitz, Executive Vice President, The Business Council of Westchester; and front row left to right: Kevin Johnson, General Manager, Double Tree by Hilton Tarrytown and Vice President of the Westchester Hotel Association; Monika Henry, General Manager, Crowne Plaza White Plains Downtown.