Today, the New York City Council is set to vote on Intro 991 — a bill that, despite its claims of improving safety, threatens to devastate small, minority-owned hotels like mine. The Council is pushing this legislation forward without properly consulting the very people it impacts the most: small, independent hoteliers who have worked tirelessly to build businesses from the ground up. As a proud Indian-American business owner, former chairwoman of the Asian American Hotel Owners Association and a member of the New York City Minority Hotel Association (NYCMHA), I know firsthand how damaging this bill will be. I came to this country when I was 15-years-old. Like many Indian-Americans my family came here in search of the American Dream. We came with almost nothing and worked hard to build our lives and careers. At 22, I made my first major leap into the hospitality industry by purchasing a hotel. As you can imagine, it was an uphill battle. My family and I ran the hotel as a 24/7 operation, 365 days a year — no downtime. We worked around the clock, sacrificing personal time and comfort to ensure its success, we even lived at the hotel for the first few years to save money. Small, independent hotels provide an affordable, clean, safe space for guests, who in turn, support local small businesses and boost NYC’s economy and tourism industry. That’s why I’m speaking out — Intro 991 threatens everything I, and other members of the NYCMHA, have worked for, and it’s clear that the City Council has failed to understand how devastating the impact will be. This so-called “Safe Hotel Act” aims to improve safety standards, but it’s based on incomplete information. The City Council has had zero meaningful conversations with the small, independent hotel community, many of whom are minority-owned. We are the very businesses that provide jobs, pay taxes, and invest back into the local economy, yet our voices have been ignored. Intro 991 claims to enhance safety, but the truth is this bill does very little to protect hotel employees and guests. In fact, the very hotels that have experienced the safety issues that Council Member Julie Menin is trying to address through this bill, will not have to comply with the safety regulations. So, who is really being protected here? The real impact of this bill is not safety — it’s financial devastation. The subcontracting mandates will force small hotels, especially minority-owned ones, to close, and thousands of individuals will lose their jobs. Most of our employees are minorities themselves, and they rely on these jobs to support their families. With the mandates Intro 991 imposes, we’ll be unable to hire extra hands during peak seasons, which will hurt service quality, drive up costs, and ultimately force us out of business. The NYCMHA, along with many independent hoteliers, strongly opposes this bill. It was negotiated without our input, and it blatantly favors large corporate interests at the expense of small entrepreneurs — many of whom are immigrants and people of color. If passed, this bill will not improve safety but will kill jobs, shutter small hotels, and cause room rates to soar, making New York City even more unaffordable for tourists. New York City’s independent hotels are the backbone of this city. During the pandemic, my family and I opened a property in the Bronx, housing the National Guard, medical staff, and police officers, providing a safe place for them and their loved ones while keeping our staff safe as well. After all that we’ve done for this city, we are now being pushed aside. Menin and her allies need to stop rushing this bill through and consider the irreversible damage it will cause. We need an exemption for small hotels and protection against arbitrary enforcement that could threaten our ability to operate. If this bill passes, the City Council will be turning its back on minority-owned businesses like mine. We will never forget, and neither will your voters. Council Member Menin, the damage you’ll cause — our lost businesses, our workers’ lost livelihoods, and the harm to New York’s economy — will be on your shoulders. Panwala is a New York City hotel owner, member of the NYC Minority Hotel Association (NYCMHA) and member of the American Hotel and Lodging Association (AHLA) Board of Directors.