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Proposed New York Hostel Legislation (Survey)

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Rucksack Brian started this discussion 11 years 5 months ago

Please complete this important survey regarding the proposed legislation for hostels in NYC.

As many hostel operators around the world are aware, New York City has seen a dramatic reduction in the number of hostels over the past few years as a result of city enforcement of rules and regulations that made it very difficult to operate a true hostel in the city. However, recently the city seems to have recognized the error of their ways and made a course correction. Mayor Bloomberg and legislators have stated: “Our goal is to attract 175,000 more young tourists to our city each year which will create more than 1,000 new jobs for New Yorkers.”

Hostelworld has been working closely with the legislators in New York and is planning to propose new legislation for hostels in New York City. HostelManagment.com has been in communication with John O'Donnell, Chief Operating Officer for Hostelworld, and he has welcomed input on this issue from the HostelManagement.com membership. Feedback from the international hostel industry is needed in order to ensure that this important legislation is appropriate for hostel operators of all shapes and sizes and consistent with global hostel standards.

We are asking all members to participate in this important survey. Your input is very important since a proposal like this could be used later as a precedent for legislation in other regions and this could directly affect your business. All answers from individual hostels will be kept strictly confidential. Hostel location information has been requested by the legislators as they have stated they are primarily interested in input from U.S. operators and foreign investors. However, input from other regions may be considered especially if the proposed NYC legislation is dramatically different than the current global hostel standard.

Begin The Survey Now

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Ria

11 years

I've read the legislation and agree on several of the points made here. The 400 sf min rule is ridiculous especially in NYC where cost per square foot is astronomical to begin with. I agree with the bar/restaurant thing. It's a separate business entirely and not something even a bigger than small, but smaller than big operator like us may be able to take on. Forget what it does to a smaller company as you have to have everyone pass food handling classes and have all kinds of permits and inspections to pass. I don't know how inspections go in Europe, but here it seems that each inspection is at the whim of the person doing it. Get the right guy and all is well, get the new guy or the wrong guy and suddenly things that were never issues before are now issues. I can imagine what nightmare NYC will be. They require a 24 hour per day presence of a fire marshall...that means you have to have all the staff certified that work the desk. So smaller operators are going to have a heck of a time.

should you be allowed to be a hostel under 30 beds? Why not. If you have the $$ to operate on that scale, go for it. but reality in NYC is that will be hard pressed to find an affordable property.

I am all for some regulation, but I think they are overreaching in some areas. I think it's a case of not understanding what hostels are again. the square footage thing shows that.

anyone have a more recent update?

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Rucksack Brian

11 years

Hostel Takeover: The Return of the Backpacker Crash Pad

IMAGE(/sites/default/files/u522/nyc_hostel_legislation.jpg)

Legislation currently coursing through City Council that would allow dozens of hostels to set up shop could affect the hospitality industry in the Big Apple as you know it.
…
New York has never really embraced the hostel model, which until very recently conjured for the average American images of dingy, druggy European backpacker crash pads.

Perhaps “dozens of hostels” is a bit exaggerated, given the overly-restrictive legislation.

Rest assured that this legislation was not written to allow the vast majority of the hostels in the world to operate there. Jerry Kremer talks about “European hostel groups” and the article cites The Freehand, owned by Sydell Group with investment by billionaire Ron Burkle, as the type of hostels who plan to open in New York. Sydell group has already invested $10million in property in anticipation of this legislation.

When talks about prohibiting bunk beds in the definition came up, Mr. Kremer [WRI’s consultant and lobbyist for this legislation] put his foot down. “You can’t have a hostel without bunk beds,” he said. Instead, per the new bill, they won’t be able to be placed within three feet of each other. He said the European hostel groups he’s spoken to “can live with that.”

The main point being pushed in support of this legislation is the loss of potential money to NYC.

…some studies estimate that mass closings following the 2010 bill are costing the city $150 million and nearly 200,000 tourists a year.
…
“The city took a real blow,” Mr. Kremer said. “Places like Philly and Washington saw a dramatic increase in young travelers and hostel occupancy rates. They siphoned it away from New York and were indirect beneficiaries of that 2010 legislation. And the economic impact was devastating.”

The article says that there has been limited backlash from the hotel industry and its lobbyists in response to this new proposal.

“My pitch to the hotel industry is, ‘Look, today’s hostel users are tomorrow’s guests,’” he said. “These people who are introduced to New York through hostels are coming back in a few years when they have jobs and are going to the Hilton. It’s not a competition. Hostels are entry-level, or gateway, lodgings.”

I get it. Hostels are like hotels with training wheels. How fun!

Despite mentioning how important the youth travel market is, there still seems to be some confusion about the people who stay in hostels and why they choose to stay there.

Ms. Spell [chief communications officer of NYC & Company, the city’s official marketing and tourism organization] also pointed out that the bill would not only attract young travelers, but also elderly tourists of modest means. She said there’s clear economic and cultural potential between these “two vulnerable populations on the same end of the income spectrum.”

Alas, perpetuating of the idea that hostels are just cheap hotels for people who can’t afford to stay somewhere nice.

So what’s the current state of the proposal?

What’s the delay in passing the hostel law? There may be a lingering conflation of hostels with the seedy SROs and illegal, multiple-dwelling lodgings that the 2010 bill aimed to shut down.
…
Regardless of the reasons behind the logjam, Mr. Kremer said of the legislation that “if it’s not done this year, we go back to scratch.” Noting that it was “legacy time” for Mayor Bloomberg, he said that the bill is “on third base and inching toward home plate.”
…
With projects like The Freehand Williamsburg already announced and Mayor Bloomberg’s tourism-boosting tenure drawing to a close, action on the hostel law should occur by the end of this year.
…
Should the bill pass, Mr. Kremer thinks that “maybe a dozen hostels” will open within a year. Beyond that, the future of bargain-basement lodgings should only soar.

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Rucksack Brian

11 years

We haven’t heard much about the proposed NYC hostel legislation lately. This article came out last week:
New bill could bring back hostels

…Jack Friedman, executive director of the Queens Chamber of Commerce, said he predicts that the flourishing of hostels in Queens could bring in more revenue for the borough.

“Countless tourists, who can’t afford luxury hotels in Manhattan, are drawn to Queens when they visit our city and inevitably spend tourism dollars on restaurants and other amenities in our borough,” Friedman said.
…
“Millions of dollars, taxable revenue, can be generated in the Queens economy,” he said. “When we welcome [tourists and travelers] to someone’s home they’re going to spend money at local restaurants and retail stores.”
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“[Hostels ] would mean more to us than any other borough because we have two airports. We can attract more travelers,” Friedman said.

There isn’t much new information in the article, but the advocates are still pushing for the adoption of the new legislation and the Chamber of Commerce (at least in Queens) supports it.

Some locals feel differently though:

“We have enough cheap hotels already,” Ram Garib of the Queens Village Civic Association said. “If you attract the wrong people, you will attract the wrong problems in the area.”

Cynthia Curry of the Wayanda Civic Association in Jamaica said she doesn’t think the additional revenue hostels would bring in is worth risking the safety of Queens residents.

“This would not have a positive impact,” she said. “I do believe we [already] have adequate accommodations [for visitors],” she said. “We don’t know where these people are coming from … we already have problems with rapists.”

This blog post also opposes the idea of allowing hostels in Queens:

… First off are these people really going to spend money in Queens or are they going to just go to Manhattan (the reason tourists come to NYC to begin with) and spend money there. Also since these people are too cheap or don’t have the finances to spend on a regular hotel, do you really think they are going to pump money into the Queens economy.

Second, who is going to oversee this program and the legality of the hostels. We here in Queens (especially Jamaica) have enough illegal apartments that the city cannot control, illegal construction, so how can we assume this disaster waiting to happen is going to be legally implemented.

As far as I know the proposed bill is still awaiting review from the Committee of Housing and Buildings. If anyone has more up-to-date information I would love to hear it.

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cdohh

11 years

Hey Everyone!

New to the forum here. I've been following the thread for a little bit now, and couldn't help but try and get involved. I'm a young architect/designer living in Brooklyn, and this legislation struck a particular chord with me on multiple levels--being both a designer and a backpacker. It has always blown my mind that there were no affordable short-term rental options for youth travelers looking to save money on accommodations (which, from experience, you generally spend only your nights in--and the rest of the day exploring). Yes, NYC has 'hostels,' but they are more like boutique hotels that still charge $100+/night for stay--and coming from experience after backpacking Europe last summer, that is 4x more than I spent at even the most expensive hostel in any of those big European cities. And after hearing about the banning of Airbnb here in NYC, I got to doing some research on the current situation for youth travelers looking to visit NYC. Thanks to this thread, I'm pretty up-to-date on the situation--which is looking better than it has been in the past.

As the articles posted above state, I also think there's a huge development possibility in this market. And considering the successful running (and overhead profit) of hostels comes from efficient use of space and layouts and the cost of real estate in NYC, I have gotten to brainstorming of ways to maximize the efficiency of these new hostels/retrotfits. I've been working on some ideas that I have about a modular system/designs that would use the fairly restrictive guidelines for new hostels (3 foot bed spacing, maximum number of beds per room, minimum air space per occupant, non-combustible furniture..etc). I've got a pretty good direction to head in as far as design, but wasn't quite sure if this would be of interest to developers and/or hostel owners/managers.

My only concern was if this legislation were to pass, what's to say that owners/developers couldn't just go and load up on ikea furniture for their hostels? Granted, this wouldn't be maximizing efficiency space-wise (since there is a required cubic air space per occupant--the higher the ceiling, the less actual floor space one would need hypothetically), but may be the cheapest option for existing buildings.

So needless to say, I am interested in developing a smart and cheap system that would allow hostel owners to build for cheaper and therefore rent beds for cheaper. Do you all think there would be any interest in something like this?

Feel free to give me any sort of feedback at all, and also if anyone is interested in discussing these ideas further (or collaborating on a project!), shoot me an email at [email protected]

Cheers!
Chris

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Bear_Hostels

9 years

Hey all. We are interested in NYC hostels as a group of investors thinking of opining 5-10 new hostels. What is the current situation with the law?

thank you

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