Provides that a portion of the local hotel occupancy tax in a city having a population of one million or more shall be dedicated to promoting tourism within each individual borough of such city

Summary of provisions

Section 1 provides that either 4 percent of hotel occupancy tax revenue collected in each of New York City's five boroughs or $300,000, whichever is less, will be allocated to that borough for the purpose of promoting tourism.

Section 2 establishes the effective date.

Justification

While New York struggles to recover from the recession of 2008, it is clear that at least one of its major industries is thriving like never before: New York City Tourism. In 2012, the City welcomed a record-breaking 52 million visitors despite the devastation wrought by Hurricane Sandy. According to Mayor Bloomberg, these tourists, who paid for a combined total of 29 million hotel room nights, poured $55 billion into the city's economy. Moreover, the city's hotel occupancy stands at 87 percent, the highest in the nation. Better yet, there is good reason to believe that tourism remains a growth industry, with much of its potential still untapped, particularly outside of Manhattan. In the past six years, 72 new hotels have been built in boroughs other than Manhattan and a record-high percentage of non-Manhattan hotels are under development for the next four years.

With historic and burgeoning neighborhoods like Arthur Avenue and Woodlawn in the Bronx, St. George and Snug Harbor in Staten Island, Long Island City, Jackson Heights and Astoria in Queens, and Fort Greene, Williamsburg and Park Slope in Brooklyn, not to mention dozens of other great neighborhoods across the city, it is clear that the potential of the "outer boroughs" is near limitless. That is without even considering up-and-coming neighborhoods in Manhattan like Alphabet City and Harlem.

Mayor Bloomberg and NYC & Company deserve enormous credit for nurturing the tourism boom, and they are doing excellent work promoting tourism beyond Manhattan with initiatives like "Neighborhood X Neighborhood," which is "designed to support local businesses and encourage tourism in neighborhoods outside traditional tourist locations." However, it is no slight to the job they have done to say that no one knows the Bronx like people from the Bronx, or that no one knows Queens like the people of Queens, right on down the line. NYC & Company will continue to highlight big ticket items like Yankee Stadium, the Brooklyn Bridge, and Flushing Meadows Corona Park while increasing emphasis on non-traditional attractions, but to truly

highlight the hidden gems of the five boroughs it makes sense to turn at least a small portion of the promotional responsibilities to entities that know their home boroughs better than anyone else.

This legislation will help foster the growth and expansion of New York City's tourism industry by turning over a small portion of each borough's hotel occupancy tax revenue (the lesser of 4% or $300,000) to interborough entities designated by local law and approved by the Economic Development Corporation for the promotion of local restaurants, sights, and attractions. By reallocating resources for this purpose, we can help foster our tourism boom in a long-term and sustainable fashion.

Legislative history

This is a new bill

Fiscal implications

No revenue will be lost, but a maximum of $1.5 million in tax revenue will be reallocated annually for the purpose of promoting tourism in the five boroughs of New York City. This borough-specific promotion should, in turn, increase the economic impact of tourism.

Effective date

This act shall take effect on the first of January next succeeding the date on which is shall have become law.